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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Class 


THE    FRIAR    SAINTS    SERIES 

Editors  for  the  Franciscan  Lives 
The  Very  Rev.  Fr.  Osmund,  O.F.M.,  Provincial,  and  C.  M.  Antony 

Editors  for  the  Dominican  Lives 
The  Rev.  Fr.  Bede  Jarrett,  O.P.,  and  C.  M.  Antony 


ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN 


TCives  of  tlje  TFViar  Saints 

Editors  for  the  Franciscan  Lives  :— 
The  Very  Rev.  Fr.  Osmund,  O.F.M.,  Provincial,  and  C.  M.  Antony. 

Editors  for  the  Dominican  Lives  :— 
The  Rev.  Fr.  Bede  Jarrett,  O.P.,  and  C.  M.  Antony. 


Dominican. 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas.  By 
Very  Rev.  Placid  Con- 
way, O.P.  With  5  Illus- 
trations. 

St.   Vincent  Ferrer.      By 

Fr.  Stanislaus  Hogan, 
O.P.  With 4  Illustrations. 

St.    Pius  V.      By  C.   M. 

Antony.  With  Preface 
by  the  Very  Rev.  Mon- 
signor  R.  H.  Benson. 
With  4  Illustrations. 


Franciscan. 

St.  Bonaventure.     By  Fr. 

Laurence  Costelloe, 
O.F.M.  With  6  Illustra- 
tions. 

St.  Antony  of  Padua.  By 
C.  M.  Antony.  With  4 
Illustrations. 

St.  John   Capistran.     By 

Fr.  Vincent  Fitz- 
gerald, O.F.M.  With  4 
Illustrations. 


The  volumes  as  above  are  issued  in  cloth,  price 
50  cents  net. 


The  following  volumes  have  also  been  proposed: — 


St.  Antoninus  of  Florence. 

By   Fr.    Bede    Jarrett, 
O.P. 

St.  Raymond  of  Penna- 
fort.      By    Fr.    Thomas 

SCHWERTNER,  O.P. 

St.  Louis  Bertrand.  By 
the  Rev.  Mother  Mary 
Reginald,  O.S.D. 


St.  Bernardine  of  Siena. 
By  Miss  M.  Ward. 


St.  Leonard  of  Port- 
Maurice.  By  Fr.  Alex- 
ander Murphy,  O.F.M. 

St.  Peter  of  Alcantara.  By 
Fr.  Egbert  Carrol, 
O.F.M. 


LONGMANS,     GREEN     AND     CO., 

FOURTH  AVENUE  AND  30TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 

LONDON,  BOMBAY  AND  CALCUTTA. 


ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

(From  the  portrait  by  yivarini,  painted  at  Venice  three 
years  after  the  Saint's  death.    Nozv  in  the  Louvre,  Paris. ) 


SAINT 
JOHN    CAPISTRAN 


Fr.  VINCENT  FITZGERALD,  O.F.M. 


WITH  FOUR    ILLUSTRATIONS 


LONGMANS,    GREEN    AND    CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  AND  30TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

LONDON,   BOMBAY  AND  CALCUTTA 

19H 


UihU  ©bsiat: 

F.  Andreas  Egan,  O.F.M.,  Lector  Jub. 
F.  Benedictus  Lamb,  O.F.M. 

Censores  Deputati 


JUhil  GDbstat: 

F.  Thomas  Bergh,  O.S.B. 

Censor  Deputatus 


imprimatur : 

F.  Osmundus  Cooney,  O.F.M. 
Provincialis 


Imprimatur : 

Edm.  Can.  Surmont 


WestmonYsteru;  rf#  4  S'eptMriz,  J911;. 


PREFATORY    NOTICE. 

These  six  volumes  of  the  "  Friar  Saints  " 
Series  now  published,  which  have  received 
the  warm  approval  of  the  authorities  of  both 
Orders  in  England,  Ireland,  and  America, 
are  earnestly  recommended  to  Tertiaries, 
and  to  the  Catholic  public  generally. 

The  Master-General  of  the  Dominicans  at 
Rome,  sending  his  blessing  to  the  writers  and 
readers  of  the  " Friar  Saints"  Series,  says: 
"  The  Lives  should  teach  their  readers  not 
only  to  know  the  Saints,  but  also  to  imitate 
them  ". 

The  Minister-General  of  the  Franciscans, 
Fr.  Denis  Schuler,  sends  his  blessing  and  best 
wishes  for  the  success  of  the  "  Lives  of  the 
Friar  Saints  ". 

Fr.  OSMUND,  O.F.M.,  Provincial, 
Fr.  BEDE  JARRETT,  O.P., 
C.  M.  ANTONY, 

Editors. 

228522 


PREFACE 

I\  the  preparation  of  this  biography,  the 
author's  aim  has  been  to  make  a  great  Saint 
more  widely  known  among  English-speaking 
Catholics ;  a  Saint  who  is  popularly  venerated 
in  the  Church  at  large  and  especially  in  Italy, 
France,  and  Austria-Hungary,  the  scenes  of 
his  labours  and  triumphs. 

That  St.  John  Capistran  is  not  held  in  such 
general  regard  among  ourselves  is  due,  no 
doubt,  to  the  fact  that  no  book  hitherto  has 
been  written  in  English  upon  the  subject  of 
his  life,  although  several  works  embodying  a 
collection  of  lives  of  the  Saints  contain  bio- 
graphies longer  or  shorter,  notably  "  The  Lives 
of  the  Saints  and  Blessed  of  the  Three  Orders 
of  St.  Francis,"  translated  from  the  "  Aureole 
S6raphique"  of  Pere  Leon,  O.F.M.  Yet  he 
deservedly  ranks  among  the  holiest  men,  the 
most  apostolic  preachers,  and  the  noblest 
heroes  whose  lives  adorn  the  annals  of  the 
Church. 

A  man  of  strong  personality,  of  large  ideas, 


viii  PREFACE. 

of  versatile  genius,  with  remarkable  powers  of 
organization  and  government  joined  to  intrepid 
courage,  he  compels  the  admiration  of  all  who 
learn  to  know  him  through  the  recorded  in- 
cidents of  his  life ;  while  to  us  who  love  the 
Saints  and  would  follow  them,  even  afar  off, 
such  episodes  commend  self-sacrifice,  prayer, 
penance,  an  ardent  zeal  for  God,  His  Church, 
and  His  creatures'  souls. 

To  present  a  faithful  narrative  to  the  reader, 
who  may  thence  judge  for  himself  what 
manner  of  man  was  St.  John  Capistran,  is, 
therefore,  the  scope  of  the  present  work, 
rather  than  to  attempt  any  elaborate  study  of 
character. 

Though  use  has  been  made  of  several  bio- 
graphies and  other  historical  sources,  chief 
reliance  has  been  placed  on  the  evidence  of 
contemporary  authorities,  the  most  important 
of  which  have  been  edited  by  the  Bollandists. 
The  only  later  writer  largely  quoted  is  the 
great  Irish  Franciscan,  Fr.  Luke  Wadding 
(t  I^S7)>  whose  monumental  work,  "  Annales 
Minorum,"  contains  many  documents  and 
letters  written  by  or  to  the  Saint ;  and  it  is 
to  these  that  reference  is  generally  made,  since 
it  has  been  the  writer's  endeavour  throughout 
to  admit  no  testimony  that  is  not  perfectly- 
trustworthy. 


PREFACE.  ix 

The  accounts  of  the  victory  of  Belgrade  and 
of  the  Saint's  death  are  drawn  principally  from 
two  long  narratives  by  Fr.  John  Tagliocozzo, 
secretary  to  St  John  Capistran,  and  an  eye- 
witness of  what  he  relates.  They  were  both 
drawn  up  shortly  ~rter  the  events  they  record, 
and  were  addresse  .  as  official  reports  to  St. 
James  della  Marca,  Vicar-General  of  the 
Observantine  Franciscans. 

One  further  point  calls  for  explanation. 
The  chronology  of  the  life  is  variously  stated 
by  historians,  but  that  adopted  by  the  Bol- 
landists  seems  to  be  the  most  reliable,  and 
is  adopted  in  this  work.  Many  writers  give 
1385  as  the  date  of  the  Saint's  birth,  on  ac- 
count of  the  inscription  which  was  placed  on 
his  tomb  and  which  read :  "  He  lived  71  years, 
3  months,  22  days  ".  Since  he  certainly  died 
on  23  October,  1456,  this  would  give  2  July 
as  his  birthday,  reckoning  both  the  days 
of  birth  and  death  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  time;  but  2  July  is  evidently  an  error, 
for  all  agree  that  he  was  born  on  24  June. 
The  year  stated  is,  therefore,  open  to  ques- 
tion. The  best  authority  is  Capistran's  own 
letter  (ap.  Boll.  Oct.  X,  p.  274),  written  on 
1  May,  1455,  to  Fr.  Mark  of  Bergorno,  wherein 
he  says  :  M  On  the  feast  of  the  nativity  of  St. 
John  I  shall  enter  my  seventieth  year ;  on  the 


x  PREFACE. 

feast  of  our  Blessed  Father,  St.  Francis,  I  shall 
enter  my  fortieth  in  religion *  Additional 
confirmation  of  this  chronology  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Memoir  of  James  of  Franchis,  quoted 
in  the  second  chapter  of  this  book. 

In  1890  the  feast  of  St.  John  Capistran, 
which  has  been  observed  since  1622  through- 
out the  Franciscan  Order  on  23  October,  was 
extended  to  the  universal  Church,  and  is  cele- 
brated on  28  March. 

It  is  the  earnest  hope  of  the  present  writer 
that  this  little  work  will  promote  in  some 
degree  devotion  to  a  Saint  thus  commended 
to  all  Catholics  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 

V.  F. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAP.  *A0» 

I.  Early  Years i 

II.  Religious  Life n 

III.  Preaching  in  Italy 18 

IV.  Labours  for  the  Church  and  the  Order  27 
V.  Germany  and  Poland 47 

VI.  Defence  of  Christendom      ....  69 

VII.  The  Victory  of  Belgrade    ....  86 

VIII.  Death 105 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

St.  John  Capistran Frontispiece 

From  the  portrait  by  Vivarini  painted  at 
Venice  three  years  after  the  Saint's  death. 
Now  in  the  Louvre,  Paris. 

Friary  of  Monte  Ripido,  Perugia         .     To  face  p.  11 
From  a  Photograph  by  G.  Tilli. 

St.  John  Capistran „  86 

From  a  portrait  by  A.  Rivalz,  1667-173"$, 
painted  for  the  Chapel  of  the  Saint  in  the 
Cordelier  Church,  Toulouse,  now  in  the 
Museum. 

Ciborium  of  Gold  and  Silver  .        .  „        105 

Made  in  1456  for  St.  John  Capistran,  and  used 
by  him  at  the  siege  of  Belgrade.  It  is  now 
preserved  at  Budapest. 


The  Holy  Father,  through  the  Very  Rev.  Fr. 
Thomas  Esser,  O.P.,  has  expressed  his  great 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  that  the  "Friar  Saints" 
Series  has  been  undertaken;  and  wishes  it  every 
success.  He  bestows  "most  affectionately "  His 
Apostolic  Blessing  upon  the  Editors,  Writers,  and 
Readers  of  the  whole  Series. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS. 

The  little  town  of  Capistrano  in  the  Abruzzi, 
situated  some  twenty  miles  south-east  of  Aquila 
and  in  the  diocese  of  Sulmona,  formerly  within  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  has  given  its  name  to  the  great 
Saint  whose  life  is  sketched  in  the  following  pages, 
and  from  him  has  in  turn  received  its  one  title  to 
world-wide  fame. 

Hither,  about  the  year  1384,  a  warrior  came  to 
dwell.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  was  of  French  or 
German  nationality.  Even  his  name  cannot  be 
stated  with  certainty,  though  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  Ghez,1  indicating  German  origin.  The  his- 
torians in  general  agree  in  stating  that  he  was  of 
noble  birth,  and  that  he  had  left  his  native  land  in 
1382  to  take  part  in  the  war  which  was  then  be- 
ginning between  the  rival  claimants  to  the  throne 
of  Naples — a  conflict  that  lasted  many  years.  This 
man  took  to  wife  a  lady  of  good  family  in  Capis- 

1  Equivalent  to  the  modern  Goetz  or  Gotz.  The  whole 
question  is  learnedly  discussed  by  Father  Michael  Bihl  in  the 
"  Archivum  Franciscanum  Historicum,"  III,  781,  and  by  M. 
Leon  de  Kerval— u  Un  Frere  Mineur  d'Autrefois,"  Ed, 
1908,  App.  I. 


2  ST,  JOHN  CAFISTRAN. 

trano  ;  and  to  them  was  born,  on  24  June,  1386 
a  son  whom  they  called  John.  This  is  all  that 
known  of  the  father  of  a  Saint  who  was  in  time  to 
become  renowned  as  an  apostle  and  wonder-worker, 
but  who  inherited  not  a  little  of  his  father's  military 
instinct. 

Seeing  that  this  child  may  be  said  to  have  been 
cradled  in  war,  and  that  the  events  then  in  progress 
had  much  to  do  with  shaping  his  career  in  the 
world,  it  may  be  well  to  outline  the  history  of  what 
was  taking  place  in  southern  Italy. 

The  Schism  of  the  West — one  of  the  greatest 
calamities  that  ever  befell  the  Church  of  God — had 
begun  in  1378.  Joan  I  of  Naples  had  taken  the 
part  of  the  antipope,  Clement  VII,  and  had  accord- 
ingly been  deposed  by  the  lawful  Pope,  Urban  VI. 
This  Pontiff,  acting  in  his  capacity  of  overlord  of 
the  kingdom,  had  bestowed  the  crown  on  Charles 
of  Duras.  Joan  for  her  part  resigned  her  personal 
claim,  but  called  upon  Louis,  Duke  of  Anjou  and 
brother  of  Charles  V  of  France,  to  take  up  the 
cause  of  her  party  and  reign  in  her  stead.  The 
antipope  crowned  him  in  France  in  1382,  upon 
which  he  marched  with  an  army  to  Naples.  The 
war  was  carried  on  from  year  to  year  without  any 
decisive  success  on  either  side,  though  the  French 
faction  gradually  became  weaker.  Louis  died  in 
1384  and  was  succeeded  by  Louis  II,  who  upheld 
his  claim  till  141 2,  when,  seeing  that  his  position 
was  no  longer  tenable,  he  left  Italy.  Meanwhile 
Charles  of  Duras  had  died  in  1386,  leaving  his 
crown  to  his  son  Ladislaus.     This  prince,  in  later 


36, 
:  is 


EARLY  YEARS.  3 

years,  as  undisputed  ruler  of  Naples,  became  the 
friend  and  patron  of  Capistran. 

John  was  only  six  years  old  when  his  father  died, 
but  his  mother,  who  is  known  to  have  been  a 
woman  of  great  piety,  attended  carefully  to  his 
education,  placing  him  under  good  tutors,  and, 
ultimately,  sending  him  at  an  early  age  to  the 
University  of  Perugia.  There  he  studied  canon 
and  civil  law,  and  after  ten  years  obtained  the  de- 
gree of  doctor  in  both  these  branches  of  learning. 
He  was  a  diligent  and  brilliant  student.  Christo- 
pher of  Varese  says  that  all  sought  his  advice  in 
difficult  questions  in  preference  to  that  of  the  pro- 
fessors; while  the  latter,  according  to  Jerome  of 
Udine,  thought  it  not  beneath  their  dignity  to  do 
the  like. 

Though  these  are  striking  testimonies  to  his 
intelligence,  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  so 
few  details  of  his  youthful  history  have  been  pre- 
served to  us.  The  biographers,  even  contempo- 
raries who  must  have  had  access  to  much  fuller 
information,  appear  to  have  been  eager  to  reach 
the  more  striking  events  of  his  maturer  years. 
Facts  and  characteristics  that  would  have  been  of 
great  value  to  us  in  studying  the  formation  of  a 
character  so  noble  and  so  powerful,  seem  to  have 
no  importance  in  their  estimation ;  or  perhaps  it 
may  more  fairly  be  said  that  they  confine  their 
narrative  almost  exclusively  to  what  they  them- 
selves witnessed.  In  any  case  the  loss  is  ours  and 
cannot  now  be  repaired. 

One  saying  of  the  Saint  which  refers  to  this  period 


4  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

is,  however,  preserved  to  us  by  Jerome  of  Udine : 
14  There  were  in  me  such  inborn  modesty,  such  rev- 
erence for  my  parents  and  such  good  habits,  that 
if  ever  I  observed  anything  unbecoming,  I  held 
it  greatly  in  abhorrence;  and,  through  hatred  of 
evil  speaking,  made  my  escape  immediately  ".  It 
affords  only  a  tiny  glimpse  at  the  moral  char- 
acter in  youth  of  one  who  was  to  become  so  re- 
nowned for  his  own  sanctity  and  for  the  reformation 
of  morals  in  others ;  but  it  so  far  indicates  a  love 
of  virtue  not  common  among  university  students  of 
that  time  in  southern  Italy,  and  some  strength  of 
character  as  well,  for  there  are  circumstances  in 
which  flight  requires  considerable  courage.  The 
same  writer  also  informs  us  that  John  in  his  early 
life  was  of  handsome  appearance,  grave  but  pleas- 
ing manners,  and  of  such  remarkable  learning  that 
all  who  knew  him  felt  confident  that  one  day  he 
would  be  a  great  man.1 

The  events  of  the  following  years  are  known  to 
us  only  in  outline.  He  appears  to  have  been  ap- 
pointed a  magistrate  very  soon  after  leaving  the 
university,  and  to  have  been  favourably  noticed  by 
King  Ladislaus.  Promotion  to  various  civil  and 
military  posts  followed  until  he  was  made  governor 
of  Perugia.  This,  the  highest  dignity  he  attained 
in  his  worldly  career,  was  conferred  on  him  prob- 
ably about  the  year  14 12,  when  he  would  have 
been  twenty-six  years  old.2  Such  rapid  advance- 
ment seems  to  bear  out  the  statements  made  by 

J  C,  I.  ap.  Boll.  *Cf.  Boll.  X  Oct.  p.  275. 


EARLY  YEARS.  5 

the  biographers  concerning  his  character  and  at- 
tainments, and  to  disprove  any  suspicion  that  in 
constructing  an  early  portrait  of  the  Saint  they 
relied  on  their  imagination  and  on  their  know- 
ledge of  his  later  life,  for  his  father  was  long  since 
dead  and  there  is  no  indication  of  any  powerful  in- 
fluence at  work  to  accelerate  the  promotion  won 
by  his  own  abilities. 

The  governorship  of  a  city  so  important  as 
Perugia  was  a  position  of  great  responsibility  for  a 
young  man,  and  all  the  more  difficult  from  the  fact 
that  the  country  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  state 
of  disorder  brought  about  by  the  long  war.  But 
we  are  told  that  his  vigorous  administration  of  the 
law  and,  especially,  his  personal  integrity  and  im- 
partiality in  giving  judgment,  soon  brought  about 
a  remarkable  improvement  in  the  general  condi- 
tion of  the  province.  Brigandage  was  suppressed, 
tyranny  and  injustice  in  all  its  forms  restrained,  so 
that  the  inhabitants  felt  a  sense  of  security  that  had 
long  been  unknown.1  Here,  at  least,  we  perceive 
the  existence  of  qualities  that  became  strikingly 
apparent  in  later  years,  and  helped  to  make  the 
Capistran  that  is  known  to  history. 

One  day,  either  at  this  time  or  during  a  previous 
magistracy,  a  person  of  high  station  offered  him  a 
large  bribe  if  he  would  condemn  to  death  a  man 
who  was  then  in  prison,  charged  with  a  grave  crime, 
at  the  same  time  threatening  to  kill  him  if  he  acted 
otherwise.     Capistran,  with  a  courage  and  honesty 

1  Christopher  of  Varcse,  I. 
2 


6  ST.  JOHN  CAP  1ST  RAN. 

sufficiently  rare  in  those  corrupt  and  lawless  times, 
tried  the  prisoner  fairly,  and,  finding  him  innocent, 
set  him  free.1 

Another  story  told  by  Massoni,  Catani  and 
others,  but  not  found  among  the  earlier  lives,  be- 
longs to  this  period.  The  Count  of  St.  Agatha  and 
his  son  were  accused  of  treason  and  were  tried  by 
a  commission  of  judges  among  whom  was  Capi- 
stran.  The  father  was  found  guilty  and  condemned 
to  death ;  but  the  son,  a  mere  boy,  was  declared 
innocent.  This  sentence  did  not  fully  satisfy 
Ladislaus,  who  would  have  been  better  pleased  if 
both  had  paid  the  penalty  and  so  offered  a  more 
terrible  example  to  disaffected  subjects.  By  way 
of  compromise  it  was  agreed  that  both  should  be 
formally  sentenced  and  taken  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution; but  that  the  son,  after  witnessing  his 
father's  death,  should  be  set  free.  So  it  was  done : 
the  father  was  beheaded  before  his  son's  eyes. 
But  terror  did  for  Ladislaus  what  justice  had  de- 
nied. The  boy  fell  dead  from  fright  by  the  side 
of  his  father's  body. 

Capistran's  regret  at  having  been  a  party  to  this 
shameful  affair  is  made  by  Massoni  to  have  been 
the  occasion  of  his  abandoning  his  civil  dignities 
and  entering  the  Franciscan  Order.  But  this  seems 
to  be  an  error ;  for  the  event  must  have  occurred 
not  later  than  14 14,  the  date  of  Ladislaus'  death, 
whereas  Capistran  did  not  enter  the  Order  until 
14 1 6,  according  to   the  most  reliable  accounts — 

1  Wadding,  An.  IX,  68. 


EARLY  YEARS.  7 

including  that  found  in  Massoni's  life.  Yet  this 
incident  had,  no  doubt,  its  part  in  preparing  his 
mind  for  the  sacrifice  he  was  afterwards  to  make. 
Catani's  narrative  indicates  this  and  seems  to  ex- 
plain the  mistake  made  by  Massoni,  for  he  tells  us 
that  Capistran  at  this  time  actually  resigned  all  the 
offices  he  held  under  Ladislaus,  and  was  with  dif- 
ficulty persuaded  by  the  king  to  resume  them  with 
the  added  dignity  of  supreme  judge  of  the  kingdom.1 

Joan  II  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Naples  in 
1 4 14  and  extended  the  same  favour  as  her  father 
had  done  to  the  governor  of  Perugia.  His  worldly 
career  seemed  to  be  a  prosperous  one  in  every 
way.  His  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
wealthiest  citizens  of  Perugia  had  been  arranged, 
and  he  was  on  the  point  of  setting  out  for  Capis- 
trano,  early  in  14 16,2  to  bring  some  money  from 
his  property  there  as  part  of  the  marriage  settlement, 
when  misfortune  overtook  him  quite  unexpectedly ; 
and  with  misfortune  came  disillusionment,  conver- 
sion and  a  new  life. 

Perugia  formed  part  of  the  Papal  States,  but 
John  XXIII  had  ceded  it  together  with  Ascoli, 
Viterbo,  and  Benevento  to  Ladislaus  as  security 
for  a  large  loan.  This  had  occurred  in  1412,  the 
year,  probably,  in  which  Capistran  was  appointed 
governor.  But  John  XXIII  was  only  one  of  three 
claimants  to  the  Papal  throne  in  the  strife  of  the 
great  schism,  which  was  now,  happily,  nearing  its 
end.  He  was  declared  deposed  by  the  Council  of 
1  Cf.  Boll.  XOct.  p.  276. 
2 "  Memoir  of  James  of  Franchis,"  see  infra,  p.  8. 


8  ST.  JOHN  C  API  ST  RAN. 

Constance  on  29  May,  14 15,  and,  on  the  following 
day,  renounced  his  claims.  Gregory  XII  resigned 
a  few  days  later,  and  Benedict  XIII,  the  third 
claimant,  was  quite  discredited.  Yet  it  was  not 
until  two  years  later  that  an  end  was  put  to  the 
schism  by  the  election  of  Martin  V  (n  November, 
1417). 

In  these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  to  find 
that  disturbances  broke  out  in  the  city  and  pro- 
vince of  Perugia.  The  details  are  by  no  means 
clear,  but  from  the  account  of  Capistran  himself, 
which  we  shall  shortly  quote,  it  is  evident  that  the 
powerful  family  of  Malatesta  intervened  in  the  con- 
flict. This  family,  especially  as  represented  by 
John  of  Malatesta,  had  been  largely  instrumental 
in  bringing  about  the  close  of  the  schism,  and  had 
strongly  opposed  the  party  of  John  XXIII. 

This  discord  brought  about  the  downfall  of 
the  governor  and  so  led  to  his  adoption  of  the  re- 
ligious life.  The  biographers  of  the  Saint  all  relate 
the  story  of  this  remarkable  change  and  the  events 
which  accompanied  it,  but  we  can  perhaps  best  let 
him  tell  it  in  his  own  words  as  recorded  by  James 
of  Franchis.1 

"At  that  time,"  i.e.   1416, 2  "war  had  broken 

1  A  personal  friend  of  the  Saint  who  admitted  him  and 
his  wife  to  the  Third  Order.  He  took  down  in  writing  the 
substance  of  a  conversation  he  had  with  Capistran  in  1447 
upon  the  subject  of  the  latter's  conversion.  The  document 
is  embodied  by  Massoni  in  his  life  of  the  Saint,  and  is  ac- 
cepted as  authentic  by  the  Bollandists  and  other  authorities. 

2  See  supra,  p.  6.  Wadding  (x.  358)  places  these  events 
in  the  year  1414.    But  he  had  not,  at  the  time,  access  to  the 


EARLY  YEARS.  9 

out  between  the  Malatesta  and  the  Perugians,  and 
I  was  sent  to  arrange  terms  of  peace.  But,  when 
I  came  to  a  certain  tower l  [I  was  taken  prisoner 
and]  my  feet  were  fettered  in  irons  of  forty-two 
pounds  weight,  and  no  other  nourishment  was  al- 
lowed me  but  bread  and  water.  In  this  unfortunate 
situation  I  began  to  consider  how  I  could  escape 
death,  and  calculated  the  height  of  the  tower.  I 
happened  to  have  a  sash  which  I  tore  into  strips 
with  my  teeth  for  want  of  a  knife ;  and  when  I  had 
tied  these  together  and  added  my  hood2  they 
were  still  as  high  from  the  ground  as  St.  Chris- 
topher's.3 

"  After  fixing  this  rope  to  the  top  of  the  wall,  I 
began  to  descend ;  but  the  hood  broke.  I  fell  to 
the  ground,  injured  my  foot,  and  could  go  no  further. 
Moreover  the  guards  were  aroused  by  the  irons 
clashing  together.  I  was  captured  again  and  im- 
prisoned in  the  basement  of  the  tower  where  the 
water  reached  half-way  up  my  legs.  I  was  bound 
with  a  chain  round  my  waist  so  that  I  was  com- 
pelled to  remain  standing,  and  only  a  crust  of  bread 
was  given  me  with  a  little  water  daily. 

"  After  three  days  I  fell  asleep  through  weakness. 
As  I  slept  it  seemed  to  me  that  a  great  noise  was 

document  of  James  of  Franchis.  Moreover  the  whole  king- 
dom of  Naples  was  at  peace  in  1414. 

1  At  Br ufa  (Nicholas  of  Fara,  I)  a  town  in  the  province  of 
Perugia,  on  the  way  to  Assisi. 

"The  doctor's  hood  worn  by  the  magistrates.  It  hung 
down  over  the  left  shoulder. 

*  This  refers  to  the  convent  of  St.  Christopher  at  Penna, 
in  the  garden  of  which  the  conversation  took  place. 


llieht 


io  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

made,  and,  awakening,  I  saw  a  beam  of  sunligl 
illuminating  the  whole  tower.  Then,  as  I  raised 
my  head  to  give  thanks  to  God,  I  saw  a  Friar  Minor, 
stigmatized  in  his  feet,  who  disappeared  when  I 
tried  to  embrace  him.  Bending  back  my  head  I 
found  myself  shaven,  just  as  you  see  me  now.1  I 
knew  for  certain  that  this  Friar  Minor  was  our  Holy 
Father  St.  Francis.  At  last  I  perceived  that  it  was 
the  will  of  God  that  I  should  leave  the  world 
and  serve  him  alone.  Therefore  I  applied  at  once 
for  my  liberation,  which  I  purchased  at  the  price 
of  four  hundred  ducats. 

"  At  once  I  ordered  all  the  books  and  clothing  I 
possessed  to  be  sold,  and  went  back  to  Capistrano 
because  of  my  betrothed.  I  made  known  my 
fixed  purpose  and  determination  to  leave  the  world 
and  serve  God.  At  my  entreaty  she  promised  not 
to  marry,  but  later  on  she  married  twice  and  was 
at  length  attacked  by  leprosy.  I  returned  the 
dowry  to  her  and  to  my  mother,  and  when  all  was 
paid  I  gave  what  was  left  to  the  poor  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Then,  returning  to  Perugia,  I  put  a  cap  on  my 
head  with  all  my  sins  written  upon  it,  and  rode 
backwards  on  an  ass  so  as  to  overcome  this  miser- 
able world.2     As  I  rode  thus  through  the  streets 

H.e.  the  head  shaven  in  the  form  of  a  tonsure.  Christo- 
pher of  Varese  says  that  the  tonsure  remained  bare  ever 
after.  He  also  mentions  three  visions,  and  says  that  the 
tonsure  appeared  on  the  third  occasion.  In  an  earlier  part 
of  the  conversation  the  Saint  stated  that  he  had  been  parti- 
cularly vain  on  account  of  his  beautiful  hair. 

2  Wadding  states  that  he  did  this  by  order  of  Father  Mark 
of  Bergomo,  guardian  of  the  friary  called  del  Monte  near 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  n 

of  Perugia,  the  children  came  in  crowds  and  threw 
mud  at  me.  In  this  condition  of  reproach  I  went 
to  the  Friars  and  put  on  their  habit.  Blessed  be 
that  day  !  I  believe  I  was  thirty  years  old  at  the 
time,  and  now  I  have  been  a  Minor  thirty-one 
years.  May  God  deign  always  to  make  us  do  His 
will."1 

CHAPTER  II. 

RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 

On  the  feast  of  St.  Francis,  4  October,  14 16,  John 
Capistran  received  the  Franciscan  habit  from 
Father  Mark  of  Bergomo.  Wadding,  writing  of 
this  holy  religious,  calls  him  "  a  man  famous  while 
in  the  world  for  his  wide  erudition,  who  was  re- 
ceived at  the  Friary  of  the  Mount  at  Perugia,  and 
who,  by  his  example,  attracted  many  students  of 
that  city  to  embrace  the  same  life.  He  lived 
many  years  in  this  place,  and  at  length  died  with 
the  fame  of  miracles." 2 

The  novice-master,  Onuphrius  of  Seggiano,  a  lay 
brother,  is  described  by  the  same  writer  as  a  pious, 
austere,  but  very  prudent  man.  Examples  of  his 
austere  manner  of  acting  will  soon  be  given ;  and 
his  prudence  was  justified  by  the  fact  that  in  Cap- 
ri he  had  a  novice  whose  conversion  seemed 
to  need  to  be  rigorously  tested,  while  these  very 
trials  afforded  to  an  ardent  soul  occasions  of  merit 

Perugia,  who  wished  thus  to  try  the  reality  of  his  conver- 
sion.    (An.  IX,  359.) 

1  Boll.  X  Oct.  p.  277  uq.  a  An.  IX,  60. 


12  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

and  of  acquiring  consummate  virtue.  He  really 
loved  and  admired  the  young  religious,  and  in  turn 
earned  his  lasting  affection  and  reverence.  The 
Saint  was  sometimes  heard  to  say  :  "  I  give  thanks 
to  God  that  He  deigned  to  provide  such  a  master 
for  me,  for  had  he  not  been  so  severe  with  me  I 
should  never  have  been  able  to  acquire  the  virtues 
of  humility  and  patience."1  In  145 1,  when  Cap- 
istran  was  on  his  way  to  Austria,  he  called  at 
Cortona  to  visit  Brother  Onuphrius.  He  found 
the  holy  old  man  lying  very  ill,  stayed  with  him 
as  long  as  he  could,  and,  on  leaving,  took  away 
his  tunic,  which  he  afterwards  wore. 

The  place  in  which  Capistran  spent  his  noviciate 
is  sufficiently  noteworthy  to  deserve  some  reference 
here.  The  Friary  of  St.  Francis  of  the  Mount, 
now  called  Monte  Ripido,  outside  the  St.  Angelo 
gate  of  Perugia,  stands  in  a  commanding  position 
above  the  town  which  is  itself  situated  on  a  lofty 
hill.  The  views  to  be  obtained  from  it  over  the 
whole  Umbrian  valley  are  hardly  surpassed  by  any 
in  Italy,  not  even  by  the  grand  prospect  from 
Fiesole  so  well-known  to  travellers.  On  its  site, 
at  one  time,  was  a  mansion  belonging  to  a  noble- 
man of  Perugia  who  made  it  over  to  a  certain  com- 
munity of  Fraticelli  to  be  used  as  a  friary.  But, 
on  the  discovery  being  made  that  these  men  were 
heretical  in  their  beliefs  and  disorderly  in  their 
lives,  the  pious  donor,  with  the  assistance  of  Father 

1  Christopher  of  Varese,  I.  Both  Mark  of  Bergomo  and 
Onuphrius  of  Seggiano  are  mentioned  in  the  Menology  of 
the  Franciscan  Order. 


ally 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  13 

Paoluccio  of  Foligno,  dispossessed  them  and  gave 
the  friary  to  the  Franciscans  in  1374.1  This  friary 
has  always  been  known  for  strictness  of  observance 
and  has  been  the  home  of  many  Saints. 

In  this  holy  house  Capistran's  virtue  was  tried 
and  consolidated.  Christopher  of  Varese  says  that 
Onuphrius  studied  by  every  means  in  his  power  to 
make  him  humble  and  patient,  and  train  him  in  the 
virtues  of  the  religious  life.  "  Every  day  he  chided 
him  and  imposed  new  penances  on  him,  sometimes 
disciplines,  sometimes  fasts,  sometimes  only  bread 
and  water  for  meals ;  or,  again,  he  would  order  him 
to  take  his  food  kneeling  on  the  ground  in  the 
presence  of  his  brethren  who  sat  at  table."  2 

People  would  come  from  time  to  time  to  visit  the 
saintly  novice  and  to  ask  his  advice  on  questions  of 
importance,  for  his  learning  and  ability  were  well 
remembered  by  the  citizens  of  Perugia.  After  such 
an  interview  Onuphrius  would  say  :  u  Proud  man  ! 
You  still  think  you  are  something.  Why  did  you 
not  remain  in  the  world  if  you  wished  to  follow 
after  vanities  of  this  sort  ?  "  8 

Once,  when  Capistran  was  suffering  from  a  severe 
fever,  the  novice-master  prepared  a  medicinal 
draught  for  him  and  told  him  to  drink  it  at  once. 
It  was  actually  boiling ;  but,  confiding  in  the  virtue 
of  obedience,  he  drained  the  vessel  without  a  mo- 
ment's hesitation.     Wonderful  to  relate  the  draught 

lSee  Wadding,  VIII.  300.  Paoluccio  of  Foligno  is  also 
called  Paul  of  Trinci  and  was  one  of  the  fir^t  to  embrace  the 
Observantine  Reform. 

aC.  Lap.  Boll.  *Ibid. 


i4  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

did  him  no  harm,  and  the  fever  at  once  left  him 
When  asked  whether  he  had  not  been  afraid 
drink  it,  he  said  :  "  I  thought  it  would  have  scalded 
my  mouth  and  throat  very  badly ;  but  I  took  it, 
trusting  in  holy  obedience,  though  it  was  much 
against  my  natural  inclination."  * 

On  another  occasion  the  novices  were  standing 
round  a  cauldron  preparing  to  wash  their  tunics, 
but  they  dared  not  begin,  for  the  water  was  still 
boiling.  Brother  Onuphrius  arrived,  and,  with- 
out finding  any  fault  with  the  rest,  began  to  scold 
Capistran,  calling  him  lazy,  sleepy,  and  negligent. 
Then  he  took  one  of  the  tunics  from  the  scalding 
water  and  threw  it  full  in  his  face.  The  novice 
humbly  knelt  down  before  his  master,  not  knowing 
but  that  even  his  eyesight  might  have  been  de- 
stroyed.    But  again  no  injury  resulted.2 

His  constancy,  like  that  of  many  other  Saints, 
was  tried  by  demons  as  well  as  by  men.  Among 
the  duties  imposed  on  him  during  his  noviciate 
was  that  of  assistant  sacristian,  and  it  was  his 
custom  to  remain  for  some  time  in  the  sacristy  at 
night,  reciting  the  penitential  psalms  and  scourg- 
ing his  body  with  the  discipline.  One  night  the 
devil  appeared  to  him,  and  tried  with  hideous 
noises  to  drive  him  away  in  terror ;  but  the  holy 
novice  remained  unmoved.  "  Do  to  me,"  he  said, 
"  whatever  God  permits.  You  can  have  no  power 
over  me  except  in  so  far  as  it  is  pleasing  to  the 
Divine  will."3 

1  C.  I.  ap.  Boll.  2  Ibid. 

3  Nicholas  of  Fara.  C.  I.  ap.  Boll. 


im. 
to 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  15 

These  incidents  of  Capistran's  life  in  the  novici- 
ate are  all  related  by  men  who  were  afterwards  his 
intimate  companions  on  his  missionary  journeys. 
They  were  men  of  prudence  and  sound  judgment, 
and,  in  all  probability,  they  received  their  know- 
ledge from  the  lips  of  the  Saint  himself.  In  any 
case  they  are  no  more  marvellous  than  the  multi- 
tude of  miracles  they  afterwards  relate  as  eye-wit- 
nesses. For  St.  John  Capistran  was  a  saint  of 
miracles.  His  vocation  was  to  a  great  and  apos- 
tolic work.  He  was  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
heretics  of  his  time  in  divers  countries,  to  men  of 
wild  fanaticism,  lawless  and  depraved,  with  hearts 
far  more  hardened  to  the  truth  than  were  ever  the 
pagans  of  Greece  and  Rome  or  the  idolaters  of 
Egypt  and  India.  To  him  therefore,  as  to  the  first 
Apostles,  wondrous  powers  were  given  :  "  Heal 
the  sick,  raise  the  dead,  cleanse  the  lepers,  cast 
out  devils  :  freely  have  you  received ;  freely  give  ".l 
It  was  fitting  also  that,  even  at  this  early  stage  of 
his  career,  events  of  an  uncommon  and  striking 
character  should  give  token  of  the  mighty  works 
soon  to  be  wrought  by  him  through  the  power  of 
God. 

Within  the  octave  of  the  feast  of  St.  Francis,  in 
14 1 7,  Capistran  was  admitted  to  his  solemn  profes- 
sion. We  are  told  by  Christopher  of  Varese  2  that 
he  begged  this  favour  on  his  knees  before  the  com- 
munity, acknowledging  his  unworthiness  with  many 
tears.      But  the   brethren   knew   his   worth,   and 

1  Mat.  x.  8.  3  C.  II. 


16  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

gladly  enrolled  in  their   company   a   religious 
such  brilliant  promise. 

According  to  custom,  he  then  commenced  the 
study  of  theology.  St.  Bernardine  of  Siena  was  his 
first  teacher,  and  among  his  fellow-students  was  St. 
James  della  Marca,  who  had  been  professed  a  few 
months  previously.  Thus  three  of  the  greatest 
Saints  of  that  epoch  were  brought  together  for  the 
first  time,  one  already  a  seasoned  warrior  in  the 
good  fight,  the  other  two  destined  to  aid  him  and 
to  carry  on  the  conflict  with  some  of  the  direst 
agencies  of  evil  ever  arrayed  against  God's  holy 
Church.  Thus,  too,  a  lasting  friendship  was  begun 
between  these  great  and  noble  souls,  instances  of 
which  we  shall  see  in  the  course  of  this  history. 

Under  the  tutorship  of  St.  Bernardine,  Capistran 
made  remarkable  progress.  Indeed,  his  master  is 
reported  to  have  said  of  him  :  "  John  learns  while 
sleeping  what  others  could  only  do  by  working  day 
and  night." 

We  have  already  seen  that  in  his  youthful  days 
he  had  shown  evidence  of  extraordinary  mental 
powers  ;  but  his  proficiency  in  sacred  studies  would 
seem  to  have  been  due  to  a  miraculous  intervention, 
according  to  Christopher  of  Varese.  This  writer 
relates  that  one  night  our  Lady  appeared  to  him 
in  his  sleep  and  gave  him  to  drink  from  a  silver 
vessel,  symbolical  of  infused  knowledge  and  elo- 
quence.1 

Having  to  deal  with  a  man  of  such  uncommon 

JC.  VI. 


>  of 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  17 

gifts  and  attainments,  his  superiors  felt  themselves 
justified  in  sanctioning  a  departure  from  the  ordi- 
nary routine  of  studies  in  his  case.  Within  a  year 
he  was  ordained  deacon  and  sent  to  accompany  St. 
Bernardine  on  certain  missionary  journeys.  Bar- 
berini  in  his  life  says  that  in  one  year  Capistran 
had  learned  enough  to  be  reputed  a  master.  In 
1420  he  was  raised  to  the  priesthood. 

We  are  not  told  any  details  as  to  his  journeys 
with  St.  Bernardine,  though  it  would  appear  from 
the  account  of  Nicholas  of  Fara1  that  he  took  some 
part  in  the  preaching.  This  writer  informs  us  that 
he  still  continued  his  austere  manner  of  living, 
using  the  discipline  frequently,  going  barefoot  for 
the  first  seven  years  of  his  religious  life,  and  after- 
wards only  wearing  sandals.  He  travelled  on  foot 
in  all  his  long  journeys,  excepting  that  he  rode  a 
horse  for  four  months  when  he  accompanied  the 
Minister  General  on  the  business  of  the  reform 
of  the  Order ; 2  but  no  good  resulted  from  this 
expedition,  whereupon  he  definitely  abandoned  the 
practice.  He  was  always  meanly  clothed ;  for  a 
long  time  he  wore  a  hair  shirt  and  a  girdle  made 
of  pieces  of  wood.  Three  lents  a  year  he  fasted, 
and  until  death  would  never  admit  any  relaxation 
of  this  rule.  But,  while  so  severe  with  himself, 
he  was  kind  and  indulgent  towards  others.  He 
slept  three  or  four  hours  at  most,  oftener  only  two. 
Every  day,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  office  of 
clerics,  he  recited  the  office  of  our  Lady,  that  of 

»C.  II.  *  Infra,  p.  34. 


18  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

the  dead  and  the  penitential  psalms.  All  through 
life  he  contrived  to  find  time  for  study  and  for 
writing  numerous  books  and  treatises.  He  never 
travelled  without  his  books,  however  long  and 
difficult  the  journey  might  be.  At  the  most 
critical  time  in  the  siege  of  Belgrade  he  had  them 
removed  to  the  citadel  for  greater  safety,  and  on 
his  deathbed  in  Hungary  made  arrangements  for 
their  due  transmission  to  the  friary  of  Capistrano.1 
Although  in  later  years  he  was  employed  in  many 
important  works  for  the  Holy  See,  was  the  friend 
and  counsellor  of  kings,  the  venerated  apostle  of 
divers  countries  and  the  defender  of  Christendom, 
he  was  always  and  before  all  things  a  Franciscan. 
The  faithful  observance  of  the  rule  in  all  its  details, 
amidst  so  many  distracting  cares,  made  him  the 
great  Saint  he  was;  and  in  return  he  loved  the 
Order  and  laboured  all  through  life  most  zealously 
for  its  welfare. 


CHAPTERi  III. 

PREACHING  IN  ITALY. 

Whatever  preaching  Capistran  may  have  under- 
taken during  the  period  from  1418  to  1425  has  re- 
mained almost  unrecorded  by  the  historians;  but 
a  document  addressed  to  him  on  12  July  in  the 
latter  year  by  Cardinal  Jordan  Orsini,  Bishop  of 
Albano,  throws  some  light  on  this  subject.  There- 
in  the   Cardinal,   after   referring   to  the   devoted 

]  Infra,  p.  in. 


PREACHING  IN  ITALY.  19 

labours  of  the  Saint  which  had  brought  penitents 
flocking  to  him  from  all  parts,  granted,  in  the 
name  and  by  express  command  of  Pope  Martin  V, 
to  him  and  to  one  other  priest  of  the  Order  whom 
he  might  select  as  companion,  faculties  to  hear  the 
confessions  of  all  who  might  present  themselves, 
and  to  absolve  from  sins,  even  in  cases  reserved 
to  the  Bishops.1  From  this  it  is  evident  that  his 
missionary  journeys  as  the  companion  of  St.  Ber- 
nardine  in  14 18  must  have  been  followed  by  other 
preaching,  and  that  he  had  already  acquired  some 
measure  of  fame.2 

Still  this  papal  recognition  seems  to  mark  the  in- 
auguration of  his  wonderful  apostolate  of  preach- 
ing in  the  various  provinces  of  Italy ;  and  it  may 
be  well  here  to  set  forth  briefly  the  state  of  society 
in  his  day,  so  as  to  appreciate  the  chief  difficulties 
with  which  he  had  to  grapple. 

The  Great  Schism  of  the  West,  healed  only  a 
few  years  before,  had,  for  the  space  of  nigh  forty 
years,  left  men  in  doubt  as  to  who  was  the  lawful 
Pontiff.  This  sense  of  insecurity,  on  the  one 
hand,  as  to  who  was  the  one  sure  guide  in  faith 
and  morals,  and,  on  the  other,  the  warring  and 
intriguing  of  factions,  supporting  one  or  other 
claimant — often  for  merely  selfish  ends,  and  with  un- 
scrupulous methods — could  not  but  lessen  in  men's 
minds  the  prestige  of  the  Papacy.  The  weak  were 
scandalized ;  the  evil-minded  were  encouraged  to 

1  The  full  text  is  preserved  in  Wadding,  An.  X,  91. 
9  He  appears  to  have  preached  at  Siena  about  1420  (Boll. 
X  Oct.  p.  284). 


ao  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

lawlessness.  A  very  flood  of  error  and  depra 
long  held  back  by  the  unquestioned  authority  of 
the  Holy  See,  burst  over  Western  Christendom,  on 
that  authority  being  weakened  through  doubt  as  to 
its  rightful  holder. 

The  cause  of  these  evils  had  by  this  time  been  re- 
moved, but  the  sad  results  long  remained.  Bishops 
indeed  swore  fidelity  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
but  often  they  despised  his  laws  and  the  canons  of 
the  Church,  for  which  his  authority  was  the  sanction. 
Pluralities  of  benefices  were  unblushingly  accepted 
and  unscrupulously  solicited.  Diocesan  chapters, 
as  conferring  dignity  and  power,  became  in  time 
closed  to  all  but  men  of  wealth  or  noble  birth. 
Imitating  the  residence  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon, 
many  of  the  Bishops  left  their  dioceses  as  occasion 
or  caprice  served. 

Among  the  priests  and  members  of  religious 
orders  laxity  of  life,  avarice,  and  simony  were  far 
too  prevalent.  Theologians  there  were  in  plenty 
who  taught  that  the  Pope  was  only  first  in  honour 
among  Bishops :  that  a  General  Council  could 
overrule  his  decisions,  so  that  it  was  quite  lawful 
to  appeal  from  him  to  a  future  Council.  Had  not 
the  same  been  said  at  Constance  as  it  was  said  later 
at  Basle  ?  Excommunication — the  Church's  most 
powerful  weapon — had  become  blunted  through  too 
frequent  use  by  rival  claimants  during  the  Schism. 
It  had  lost  its  terrors  for  many. 

The  laity  learned  these  lessons  but  too  thoroughly. 
The  inspiring  faith  of  the  middle  ages,  the  former 
chivalrous  loyalty  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  yielded 


,*, 


PREACHING  IN  ITALY.  21 

to  a  querlous  discontent,  a  degradation  of  moral 
principle,  often  to  a  frankly  materialistic  spirit. 

The  world  was  ripe  for  revolt ;  and  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  each  country  interpreting  the  pre- 
vailing feeling  in  its  own  way.  While  Wickliffe  with 
his  itinerant  preachers,  calling  themselves  M  Poor 
Priests,"  fomented  civil  and  religious  discord  in 
England,  John  Hus  and  his  followers  promoted  a 
similar  movement  in  Bohemia. 

But  in  Italy,  perhaps,  these  principles  attained 
their  most  advanced  development.  There  Guelphs 
and  Ghibellines — the  former,  nominally  supporters 
of  the  Church,  the  latter,  of  the  Emperor — pro- 
voked daily  strife  in  cities  and  in  families.  Brothers 
shed  brothers'  blood  in  the  open  street;  men 
thought  it  a  duty  to  enlist  in  one  or  other  faction 
and  to  work  all  the  ill  fierce  hate  could  suggest  upon 
their  foes. 

Meanwhile  the  Fraticelli  supplied  the  religious 
corollary  to  this  deplorable  state  of  civil  affairs. 
Originally  disaffected  and  recalcitrant  members  of 
the  Franciscan  Order,  they  had  for  a  long  time 
been  totally  dissociated  therefrom,  and  now  included 
secular  persons,  men  and  women,  in  their  ranks. 
They  held  that  the  Papacy  had  lost  its  claim  to 
authority  since  John  XXII  had  condemned  them. 
Hence  they  had  a  pope  and  bishops  of  their  own, 
and  taught  that  priests  and  bishops  lost  the  validity 
. -ir  orders  if  they  committed  sin.  They  pre- 
: -d  to  great  austerity  of  life,  but,  like  many 
other  heretics  of  their  time,  they  practised  abomin- 
able and  shameful  vices.  They  recognized  no  laws 
3 


22  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

but  their  own — rights  of  property — marriage — i 
institutions  had  no  binding  force  for  them.  They 
were  a  real  menace  to  the  security  of  the  state  as 
well  as  of  the  Church,  gathering  in  adherents  from 
every  part  of  Italy,  also  from  Greece  and  other 
places.  Suppressed  in  one  or  another  locality,  they 
were  always  re-appearing  more  numerous  elsewhere. 

For  the  rest,  the  people  who  were  not  heretics 
or  partisans  in  political  feuds  were  for  the  greater 
part  sensual,  superstitious,  dishonest,  with  little  re- 
gard for  Mass  or  sacraments,  and  no  aim  in  life  but 
self-gratification. 

Into  this  arena  of  every  iniquity  came  Capistran 
to  do  battle  against  vice  and  error,  the  very  enor- 
mity of  the  evil  making  his  success  all  the  more  ad- 
mirable. 

He  was  not  alone,  neither  was  he  the  first  to  win 
striking  victories  over  the  heresy  and  depravity  of 
the  age.  St.  Vincent  Ferrer  had  already  wrought 
wonders  in  Spain,  France,  and  Italy,  as  Berthold  had 
before  in  Germany  and  Tauler  in  the  Netherlands  ; 
while  St.  Bernardine,  to  name  but  one  more,  was 
already  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame  as  a  preacher  and 
reformer. 

Still  the  harvest  was  great  and  the  labourers  few. 
There  was  work  to  be  done  worthy  of  all  Capis- 
tran's  energy,  powers,  and  sanctity. 

We  shall  not  here  attempt  any  chronological 
record,  even  in  outline,  of  the  Saint's  missionary 
preaching  in  Italy.  Only  a  few  of  the  dates  have 
been  preserved.  Moreover,  seeing  that  this  was 
his  constant  and  life-long  occupation,  it  would  ap- 


PREACHING  IN  ITALY.  23 

pear  better  to  state  in  general  terms  the  manner 
and  results  of  his  preaching,  relying  on  the  testi- 
mony of  contemporary  historians. 

On  27  May,  1426,  Pope  Martin  V  sent  a  long 
letter  to  the  Saint  in  which  he  praised  the  great 
work  he  had  already  done  and  appointed  him  in- 
quisitor throughout  Italy  against  the  Fraticelli, 
giving  him  ample  powers  and  authorizing  him  to 
extend  the  same  powers  to  others  whom  he  might 
select  as  helpers,  also  to  withdraw  these  powers  if 
he  saw  fit  and  confer  them  on  substitutes.1 

But  these  special  commissions  from  the  Holy 
See,  whereby  he  was  made  an  apostolic  preacher, 
confessor,  and  inquisitor,  would  of  themselves  have 
done  little  to  attract  men  to  him  had  not  virtue 
gone  out  from  him  and  power  from  on  high  ac- 
companied his  words  and  works.  So  it  has  ever 
been  with  apostolic  men,  these  gifts  and  powers 
being  only  the  outcome  of  much  prayer  and  the 
mortification  of  human  passions  by  penance. 

Christopher  of  Varese  says  :  2  *  After  he  entered 
the  religious  state  until  his  death  he  never  ate  but 
once  a  day,  and  that  in  such  small  quantity  as  would 
scarce  suffice  for  a  child  of  six  years  old.  He  never 
used  meat  except  in  urgent  necessity  and  under  obe- 
dience. At  times  the  brethren,  fearing  he  would  die 
from  weakness  on  account  of  his  excessive  labours, 
begged  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  to  command  him  to 
neat;  and  then  he  would  take  it  in  such  small 
quantity  and  with  such  reluctance  that  it  seemed 

lAp.  Wad.  X,  101.  2C.  II. 


24  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

rather  a  penance  than  nourishment.  Therefore  he 
made  use  of  fasting  on  bread  and  water,  frequent 
disciplines  and  other  chastisements  of  the  flesh,  by 
which  means  he  brought  the  interior  enemy  under 
the  yoke  of  reason,  and  reduced  his  body  to  the 
servitude  of  the  spirit.  Fortified,  then,  by  this  en- 
durance of  abstinence  and  armed  with  these  virtues, 
he  proclaimed  the  word  of  God  with  all  confidence, 
the  Lord  working  with  him  and  confirming  his 
words  with  signs  that  followed." 

Christopher  then  tells  us  how  eagerly  he  was 
sought  for  to  preach  in  various  places,  how  those 
cities  thought  themselves  blessed  that  were  able  to 
welcome  him,  how  they  strove  to  obtain  this  favour 
by  recourse  to  the  Pope  or  the  Cardinal  Protector 
of  the  Order,  and  of  the  many  thousands  who  as- 
sembled to  hear  him  when  he  preached.  But  of 
these  things  another  author  gives  a  fuller  and  more 
striking  account. 

Nicholas  of  Fara,1  after  mentioning  several  great 
preachers  who  evangelized  Italy  at  this  time,  says  : 
"  But  of  all  these  no  one  was  more  esteemed  by 
his  brethren  than  John  Capistran  ;  no  one  more  in 
favour  at  the  Roman  court ;  no  one  more  learned 
in  civil  and  canon  law ;  no  one  more  zealous  for 
the  conversion  of  heretics,  schismatics,  and  Jews ; 
no  one  more  solicitous  for  the  advancement 
of  religion ;  no  one  more  powerful  in  working 
miracles;  no  one  more  skilled  in  defending  the 
faith ;  no  one  more  desirous  of  martyrdom ;  no 
one  more  illustrious  by  the  fame  of  sanctity. 
lC.  IV. 


e  he 


PREACHIXG   r\  ITALY.  25 

"  So  it  came  to  pass  that,  against  his  will,  he  re- 
ceived the  greatest  and  most  striking  marks  of 
honour  in  many  of  the  provinces  of  Italy ;  and  so 
great  was  the  concourse  of  people  at  his  sermons 
that  the  times  of  the  Apostles  seemed  to  have  come 
again.  Cities  and  towns  were  put  into  commotion 
on  his  arrival ;  the  people  came  together  in  crowds 
to  hear  him  preach.  Hither  and  thither  he  was 
summoned  by  letters  or  by  messengers  sent  by  the 
citizens ;  often  he  was  commanded  by  the  Holy 
See  to  preach  at  the  request  of  noble  and  power- 
ful men.  For  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  living  and 
mighty  in  him ;  and,  not  in  words  of  human 
wisdom,  but  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he 
proclaimed  the  kingdom  of  God  to  all,  the  Lord 
working  with  him  and  confirming  his  words  with 
signs  that  followed. 

"  While  he  was  everywhere  renowned  for  his 
sanctity,  and  was  exceedingly  beloved  by  all  the 
Italian  people,  yet  by  the  inhabitants  of  Aquila, 
Siena,  Arezzo,  Florence,  Venice,  Padua,  Treviso, 
Vicenza,  Verona,  Milan,  Brescia,  Mantua,  and 
Udine,  was  he  welcomed  more  than  by  the  rest, 
and  with  an  enthusiasm  greater  than  can  be  im- 
agined. These  people  and  those  that  dwell  in  the 
kingdom  of  Sicily  received  him  with  such  honour 
and  were  so  eager  to  listen  to  him,  that  those  who 
came  to  hear  the  word  of  God  often  filled  the 
largest  squares  and  broadest  fields.  Often  there 
were  twenty  thousand,  thirty  thousand,  sometimes 
over  a  hundred  thousand  persons  present  at  his 


26  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

The  same  writer  proceeds  to  tell  how  it  was  often 
impossible  for  him  to  go  from  one  place  to  another 
on  account  of  the  throngs  of  people.  At  Brescia, 
during  the  last  year  he  spent  in  Italy,  he  preached 
outside  the  gate  of  St.  Appolonia  to  a  hundred  and 
twenty-six  thousand  people.  Nicholas  was  present 
at  this  sermon  and  affirms  that  the  number  stated 
is  not  an  exaggeration.  They  were  not  from  that 
town  alone  :  many  had  come  in  from  Cremona, 
Bergomo,  and  Milan.  All  could  not  hear  his  voice, 
but  it  was  enough  for  them  to  have  seen  or  touched 
the  man  of  God.  Branches  of  trees  broke  under 
the  weight  of  spectators  but  no  one  was  hurt. 
Many  miracles  were  wrought ;  several  at  Vicenza 
and  Verona  being  investigated  and  attested  by  the 
public  notary.  At  Florence  he  could  not  walk  in 
the  town  except  with  an  armed  guard,  such  was 
the  concourse  of  people  striving  to  be  near  him. 
Amidst  all  these  honours,  his  greatest  solicitude 
was  to  devise  some  means  to  avoid  them,  escaping 
by  some  artifice  or  departing  at  night.  When  these 
schemes  failed,  he  would  say  with  the  Prophet : 
"  Not  to  us,  O  Lord,  not  to  us,  but  to  Thy  Name 
be  glory  ". 

These  contemporary  accounts  afford  a  striking 
view  of  Capistran's  success  as  an  apostolic  preacher ; 
and,  though  they  refer  only  to  Italy  where  the 
writers  dwelt,  it  will  be  seen  in  the  following  chap- 
ter that  within  this  period  he  visited  several  other 
countries,  where  we  may  justly  assume  that  he 
preached  with  similar  effect. 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      27 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LABOURS  FOR  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  ORDER. 

We  have  now  to  relate  some  of  the  leading  events 
of  the  Saint's  laborious  ministry,  from  the  year 
1426,  when  we  find  him  already  a  famous  preacher 
and  a  trusted  servant  of  the  Holy  See,  until  his 
final  departure  from  Italy  in  145 1. 

During  those  twenty-five  years  he  preached  in 
every  part  of  Italy,  bringing  about  a  great  reforma- 
tion of  morals  in  that  country,  also,  from  time  to 
time,  in  Germany,  France,  and  Spain,1  and,  perhaps, 
England  and  Ireland  as  well.2  He  converted  many 
thousands  of  heretics,  schismatics,  and  Jews.3  In 
addition  he  worked  incessantly  for  the  good  of 
the  Franciscan  Order  and,  especially,  for  the  Ob- 
servantine  Reform. 

Some  account  has  been  given  already  of  his 
preaching,  likewise  of  the  heresies — notably  that 
of  the  Fraticelli — with  which  he  had  to  contend ; 
but,  before  coming  to  the  details  of  his  labours,  it 
is  necessary  that  a  brief  survey  should  be  made  of 
the  Order  and  its  difficulties  at  that  epoch,  and  a 
retrospective  glance  taken  over  its  earlier  history. 

The  first  few  years  following  1209,  when  St. 
Francis  obtained  from  Innocent  III  the  approval 
of  his  first  rule,  may  be  regarded  as  the  Order's 
childhood.     The  founder's  high  ideals  and  literal 

his  letter  to  the  Hussites,  ap.  Boll.  X  Oct.  p.  336. 
e  infra,  p.  39.  ;  Christopher  of  Varese  111. 


28  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

observance  of  the  Gospel  counsels  were,  in  the 
impulse  of  first  fervour,  accepted  with  eagerness  by 
his  disciples.  Such  zeal  for  higher  things — especi- 
ally for  the  most  absolute  and  destitute  poverty 
— was  manifested  that  a  rigid  code  of  detailed 
rules  was  needless.  The  rule  itself,  as  ultimately 
confirmed  by  Honorius  III  in  1216,  left  ample 
scope  for  varied  interpretation,  if  that  were  sought, 
and  very  soon  the  need  for  more  definite  organi- 
zation became  apparent.  The  very  increase  in 
numbers  called  for  this ;  for,  at  best,  personal  in- 
fluence can  only  affect  those  with  whom  it  comes 
into  close  contact.  Again,  fervour,  in  the  present 
state  of  human  nature,  is  the  exception,  not  the 
rule.  The  sublime  ideals  St. .  Francis  carried  out, 
and  inculcated  on  his  first  disciples,  were  not 
feasible  for  a  multitude. 

Even  during  the  holy  founder's  lifetime,  this 
tendency  was  expressed  by  Brother  Elias  of  Cor- 
tona,  a  shrewd  and  strong-minded  man,  but  without 
enthusiasm.  He  strove  to  organize  the  Order  on 
what  appeared  to  him  to  be  a  practical  basis,  and 
to  forestall  those  relaxations  concerning  poverty 
and  the  conveniences  of  daily  life  which  he  felt 
were  bound  to  come  in  course  of  time.  He  and 
his  followers  were  known  as  Relaxali,  while  those 
who  adhered  to  the  rigorous  primitive  observance 
were  called  Spirituales. 

There  were  long  disputes  and  much  bitter  feel- 
ing between  the  two  parties,  but  a  basis  of  agree- 
ment was  gradually  laid  by  three  papal  bulls  (1230, 
1245,  and  1247)  which  aimed  at  reconciliation  by 


the 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      29 

at  once  safeguarding  the  duties  of  poverty  and 
securing  that  those  duties  could  be  practically 
carried  out.  The  strong  personality  of  St.  Bona- 
venture  (General,  125 7- 12 74)  brought  about  peace 
and  unity  such  as  the  Order  had  not  known  since 
its  earliest  days. 

Still,  as  time  went  on,  there  was  a  growing  feel- 
ing of  uneasiness  among  many  of  the  friars,  for  it 
seemed  to  them  that  far  too  much  had  been  con- 
ceded, in  fact,  that  the  successors  of  the  old  Relax- 
ati  had  carried  the  day.  About  the  year  1334, 
John  of  Vallees,  a  saintly  religious  of  Foligno  in- 
augurated that  revival  of  the  primitive  ideal  which 
is  known  as  the  Observantine  Reform.  Many  holy 
and  learned  men  gathered  round  him  in  sympathy 
with  his  aims.  At  his  death,  in  1351,  Gentile  of 
Spoleto,  Paul  of  Trinci,  and  Angelo  of  Monte  Leone 
carried  on  his  work.  They  were  joined  by  John  of 
Stronconio  in  1368,  and,  two  years  later,  Gregory 
XI  approved  their  efforts  by  a  bull  issued  from 
Avignon. 

Before  long,  however,  this  movement,  so  mod- 
estly taken  up,  received  world-wide  impetus  and 
celebrity  from  a  great  Franciscan  who  was  to  the 
new  reform  what  St.  Bernard  had  been  in  his  day 
to  the  Cistercian  Order,  at  once  its  leading  spirit, 
its  chief  support,  and  its  propagator  in  every  land. 
In  142 1  St.  Bernardine  succeeded  John  of  Stron- 
conio in  the  government  of  the  Observant ines. 
Leo  X  in  his  bull  " Ite  et  vos"  (15 17)  thus  refers 
to  their  work  :  "These  religious,  with  the  Blessed 
Bernardine — the  standard-bearer  of  the  Name  of 


30  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

Jesus — as  their  leader  and  head,  and  supported  by 
the  patronage  of  the  holy  Council  of  Constance,  re- 
vived throughout  the  whole  world  the  order  which 
was  languishing  and  almost  dead  ".  In  this  work, 
as  in  the  rest  of  his  undertakings,  St.  Bernardine 
received  valuable  and  unfailing  support  from  his 
friend  and  disciple  St.  John  Capistran,  who  in  fact 
rivalled  him  in  devotion  to  the  cause. 

One  of  the  first  notable  events  of  Capistran's 
missionary  life — though  unconnected  with  the  re- 
form— identified  him  closely  with  his  former  master. 

St.  Bernardine  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  the 
followers  of  Manfred  of  Vercelli — a  good  man,  but 
credulous — who  taught  that  the  end  of  the  world 
was  at  hand.  Bernardine  had  thought  it  necessary 
to  preach  and  write  against  him,  for,  with  his  mis- 
placed zeal  he  was  leading  many  people  astray, 
causing  them  to  leave  their  homes  and  follow  him 
about  the  country.  The  Pope,  Martin  V,  had 
ordered  these  persons  to  disband  and  return  to 
their  own  dwellings,  but  they  persisted  in  their 
folly. 

When  Bernardine  arrived  at  Vercelli  in  1427,  to 
preach  the  lenten  sermons,  he  recommended,  ac- 
cording to  his  custom,  devotion  to  the  Holy  Name 
of  Jesus,  exhibiting  for  their  veneration  a  tablet 
with  the  sacred  monogram,  and  encouraging  the 
people  to  put  it  on  their  houses.  This  gave 
Manfred's  disciples  an  opportunity  for  revenge. 
They  sent  representatives  to  the  Pope,  charging 
the  Saint  with  teaching  heresy  and  idolatry ;  and 
so  plausibly  did  they  present  the  accusation  that 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      31 

the  Pope  was  deceived.  There  were  many  preach- 
ers of  strange  doctrine  abroad  at  the  time,  and  he 
led  to  believe  that  Bernardine  was  one  of 
them.  The  Saint  was  forthwith  summoned  to 
Rome,  and,  on  his  arrival,  was  coldly  received  by 
the  Pope,  ordered  to  desist  from  preaching  and  to 
remain  in  the  city  until  the  case  had  been  tried. 

Capistran  was  at  Naples,  whither  he  had  gone, 
at  the  invitation  of  Joan  II,  to  preach  and  to 
suppress  the  extortionate  practices  of  the  Jews. 
When  news  arrived  of  his  master's  trouble,  he  in- 
terrupted his  preaching  and  started  at  once  for 
Rome  to  defend  Bernardine  and  the  veneration  of 
the  Holy  Name.  He,  too,  in  his  sermons,  had 
strongly  advocated  this  devotion.  He  had  the 
sacred  monogram,  surrounded  with  rays,  painted 
after  the  pattern  of  the  one  used  by  Bernardine. 
At  the  entrance  to  the  city,  where  he  arrived  on 
the  day  appointed  for  the  trial,  he  raised  it  on  a 
staff  and  carried  it  like  a  banner.  Many  persons 
followed  him,  for  the  devotion  was  not  unknown  to 
them,  and,  forming  a  procession,  walked  through 
the  streets  singing  hymns  in  honour  of  the  Holy 
Name. 

When  the  Pope  heard  of  this  spontaneous  out- 
burst of  piety  on  the  part  of  the  people,  his  preju- 
dice was  so  far  shaken  that  he  put  off  the  hearing 
to  a  later  date  and  authorized  Capistran  to  appear  in 
his  friend's  defence. 

The  investigation  took  place  in  the  basilica  of  St. 
Peter.  There  were  no  fewer  than  seventy-two  ac- 
cusers, many  of  them  learned    men.     Bernardine 


32  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

spoke  in  his  own  defence  and  Capistran  followed 
with  a  speech  so  eloquent  and  closely  reasoned  that 
his  master  was  completely  exonerated.  Next  day 
the  Pope  received  St.  Bernardine  in  audience  and 
blessed  him  ;  and,  in  renewing  his  licence  to  preach, 
gave  him  the  fullest  encouragement  to  propagate 
the  devotion.  Moreover,  to  make  his  vindication 
as  conspicuous  as  possible  after  the  disgrace  he  had 
suffered,  His  Holiness  ordered  a  public  procession 
through  the  city,  in  which  Capistran  carried  the 
standard  of  the  Holy  Name,  followed  by  the  secular 
and  regular  clergy  and  a  vast  number  of  the  citizens 
of  Rome.1  The  same  Pontiff  afterwards  approved 
the  foundation  of  a  confraternity  in  honour  of  the 
Holy  Name,  and  gave  a  church  to  be  its  centre. 
This  was  called  the  Gesu,  and  became  in  time  the 
principal  Church  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  St.  Ber- 
nardine of  Siena,  St.  John  Capistran,  and  St.  James 
della  Marca  were  the  three  great  promoters  of 
this  devotion,  which  has  ever  since  been  prac- 
tised in  the  Franciscan  Order  and  in  the  Church 
at  large. 

In  the  year  1429,  Capistran  was  able  to  render 
a  signal  service  to  his  brethren  of  the  Observance. 
They  were  accused  before  the  Pope  of  introducing 
innovations  dangerous  to  the  Church.  A  hundred 
and  fifty  of  them  were  summoned  to  Rome.  They 
were  in  great  anxiety  and  distress  of  mind,  for  their 
ordinary  leaders  were  not  with  them,  and  they  did 
not  know  what  were  the  charges  preferred  against 

1  The  feast  of  the  Holy  Name,  now  observed  throughout 
the  Church,  was  instituted  in  memory  of  this  event. 


nved 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      33 

1.  While  they  were  still  in  suspense  and  wait- 
ing to  be  brought  to  trial,  Capistran  rose  and  ad- 
dressed the  others.  u  Fathers  and  Brothers,"  he 
said,  "  You  all  know  that  we  have  been  called 
hither  by  command  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  For 
what  cause  we  have  been  summoned  we  know  not. 
But,  seeing  that  so  many  have  been  brought  to- 
gether, it  seems  to  be  no  small  matter,  but  some- 
thing serious  and  dangerous,  threatening  our  safety, 
advice,  then,  is  that  we  select  some  one  among 
ourselves  to  answer,  if  necessary,  for  us  all."  They 
were  all  pleased  with  this  proposal,  and  appointed 
Capistran  to  be  their  spokesman. 

A  few  days  later,  they  were  brought  into  the 
presence  of  three  Cardinals  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  Pope  to  try  the  case.  For  three 
hours  they  listened  to  accusations  of  numberless 
and  enormous  crimes,  and,  especially,  that  of  being, 
not  heretics  merely,  but  the  promoters  and  sowers 
of  all  the  heresies  that  had  ever  been  known. 

Then  Capistran  with  his  remarkable  memory, 
having  all  the  different  charges  in  mind,  begged 
leave  to  answer  for  the  rest.  The  judges  said : 
•  It  is  time  for  dinner.  Let  us  go."  But  he  re- 
plied that  it  was  no  time  to  dine  when  such  foul 
things  were  said  of  the  innocent  family  of  Christ. 
Then,  being  permitted  to  reply,  he  repeated  all 
the  accusations  and  arguments  in  order,  exactly  as 
they  had  been  stated.  After  that  he  answered 
them,  one  by  one,  with  wonderful  ease  and  erudi- 
tion, supporting  his  contentions  by  the  Holy 
Scriptures.     The   judges   were   astonished  at   his 


34  ST.  yOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

learning   and    eloquence.      They    dismissed 
charges  and  imposed  silence  on  the  accusers 

The  General  Chapter  held  at  Assisi  in  1430 
was  one  of  the  most  important  held  at  that  epoch 
of  the  history  of  the  Order.  Both  the  Observan- 
tines  and  the  Conventuals — as  the  others  were 
called — were  summoned  to  it  by  the  Pope,  for  it 
was  his  desire  to  heal  the  division  by  a  general 
reform.  Cardinal  John  Cervantes  presided,  but 
Capistran  was,  without  doubt,  the  leading  spirit  in 
the  assembly.  His  words,  more  than  all  else, 
brought  about  unity  of  opinion  and  a  common  de- 
sire to  eradicate  abuses.  The  Minister  General, 
Father  Antony  of  Massa,  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  permitted  too  many  relaxations,  was  deposed ; 
but  he  was  not  disgraced,  for  very  soon  afterwards 
he  was  made  a  Bishop.  William  of  Casali,  a  man 
revered  and  beloved  by  all,  was  elected  in  his 
place.  Then,  after  the  various  questions  at  issue 
had  been  discussed  and  agreed  upon,  Capistran 
was  appointed  to  draft  statutes  embodying  these 
conclusions.  When  he  read  them  to  the  Chapter 
at  the  Legate's  command,  they  were  received  with 
general  acclamation,  and  all  swore  to  observe  them. 
They  are  commonly  known  as  the  Martinian  statutes, 
because  they  were  confirmed  by  Pope  Martin  V. 

Before  its  conclusion,  the  Chapter  appointed 
Capistran  as  associate  to  the  General,  so  that  he 
might  advise  and  assist  in  carrying  out  the  reform. 
Unhappily   the  union  did  not  last  long,    but  the 

1  Nicholas  of  Fara,  II. 

2  Decrees  ap.  Wadding.  X.  147  seq. 


the 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      35 

Martinian  statutes  were  widely  observed  and 
formed  an  important  basis  for  future  legislation. 
Capistran  remained  Apostolic  Commissary  for  the 
Observance  till  1438. 

In  the  same  year  he  was  again  appointed  by  the 
Pope  inquisitor  against  the  Fraticelli  in  the  province 
of  Rome,  the  Marches  of  Ancona,  and  the  duchy  of 
Spoleto.  The  same  faculties  were  renewed,  but 
extended  to  the  whole  world,  by  the  subsequent 
Pontiffs,  Eugenius  IV,  Nicholas  V,  and  Calixtus  III. 
To  the  end  of  his  life  his  energies  were  largely  de- 
voted to  the  uprooting  of  heresies,  and  he  was  very 
severe  in  dealing  with  those  who  would  not  aban- 
don their  errors.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  Fraticelli,  like  most  other  heretics  of  their  day, 
were  not  men  merely  misguided  in  their  religious 
beliefs  and,  otherwise,  harming  no  one,  but  were  a 
social  and  moral  pest,  as  well  as  being  a  menace 
to  the  Church's  faith. 

Withal,  Capistran  was  no  respecter  of  persons. 
Riches  and  high  station  did  not  make  him  stay  his 
hand.  A  lady  of  great  influence  in  Rome,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Colonna  family,  was  found  to  be  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Fraticelli.  Capistran  had  her 
imprisoned  till  she  retracted  her  heresy.1  Fearless 
himself,  he  was  feared  by  the  heretics.  One  day, 
while  on  a  journey,  he  was  walking  a  long  way  in  ad- 
vance of  his  companions  when  he  was  met  by  an 
timed  band  of  sectaries  who  were  in  search  of  him  to 
take  his  life.    *  Where  is  Brother  John  Capistran  ?  " 

1  Christopher  of  Varese,  III. 


36  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

they  asked  fiercely.  "I  am  he,"  the  Saint  replied 
with  a  firm  voice.  At  this  intrepid  answer  they  all 
disappeared,  being  cowed  by  his  commanding 
manner.1 

In  1437,  he  and  St.  Lawrence  Justinian  were 
appointed  by  Eugenius  IV  to  hold  an  inquiry  at 
Venice  into  sundry  grave  and  scandalous  accusa- 
tions that  had  been  made  against  the  Jesuates.2 
They  found  that  the  charges  were  altogether 
groundless,  and  so  were  able  to  restore  to  these 
religious  their  good  name. 

Soon  afterwards  the  Pope  appointed  Capistran 
Apostolic  Commissary  to  visit  the  missions  of  his 
Order  in  the  Holy  Land  and  in  the  East  generally, 
and  to  reform  any  abuses  he  might  find  there.  But 
he  was  not  able  to  carry  out  this  commission  till 
the  following  year.  His  services  were  required  in 
connexion  with  the  forthcoming  Council  of  Ferrara ; 
and,  in  any  case,  he  would  have  been  unable  to 
depart  at  once,  for  about  this  time  he  was  attacked 
by  a  severe  illness  at  Verona,  where  he  was  preach- 
ing at  the  request  of  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Ostia. 
On  account  of  this  indisposition  he  could  not 
preach,  as  had  been  arranged,  at  the  opening  of 
the  Council,  early  in  1439.3  He  attended  soon 
afterwards,  with  St.  Bernardine  and  St.  James  della 
Marca,  and  took  part  in  some  of  the  earlier  discus- 
sions.   Then  he  departed  on  his  mission  to  the  East. 

1  Christopher  of  Varese,  III. 

2  A  congregation  of  clerks  regular,  founded  by  St.  John 
Colombini  in  1367.     It  ceased  to  exist  in  1668. 

3  Letter  from  the  Bishop  of  Ferrara,  ap.  Wadd.  XI.  33. 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      37 

Arriving  at  Jerusalem,  he  found  a  considerable 
amount  of  discord  among  the  friars,  especially  wvth 
regard  to  their  submission  to  Father  Gandulph  of 
Sicily,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Pope  to  be  Custos 
or  chief  superior.  Capistran  decided  that  he  must 
be  obeyed,  and  sent  back  to  Europe  all  who  refused. 
He  also  corrected  abuses  in  other  places,  especially 
at  Caiffa,  where  intercourse  with  wealthy  European 
merchants  had  led  to  relaxation  of  religious  dis- 
cipline. 

Another  important  work  which  he  did  while  in 
the  East  was  to  confer,  on  behalf  of  the  Pope,  with 
the  heads  of  the  Armenian  Church  concerning  their 
projected  union  with  Rome.  He  induced  them  to 
send  delegates  whom  he  accompanied  to  Europe 
in  time  to  take  part  in  the  Council  which  was  still 
sitting,  but  which  had  meanwhile  removed  to 
Florence.1  The  Armenians,  like  the  Greeks,  were 
re-united  with  the  Catholic  Church  at  this  Council, 
and  the  document  concerning  the  Church's  teaching 
on  the  seven  sacraments,  drawn  up  for  their  ac- 
ceptance and  known  as  the  "  Instruction  to  the  Ar- 
menians," is  an  authority  often  appealed  to  in 
Catholic  theology. 

But  while  the  Council  of  Florence  was  bringing 
about  such  happy  results,  an  unauthorized  assembly, 
:ig  itself  the  Council  of  Basle,  was  fomenting 
discord  within  the  Church.  Under  the  patronage 
of  Charles  VII  of  France  and  the  Dukes  of 
Burgundy  and  Milan,  it  had  unsuccessfully  invited 

1  Documents  ap.  Wadd.  XI.  71. 
4 


:ome 


38  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

the  Greek  Emperor  and  Patriarch,  who  had  come 
to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  legiti- 
mate Council,  to  enter  into  communion  with  it  in- 
stead. More  than  this,  it  had  elected  an  antipope, 
Amadeus  of  Savoy,  under  the  title  of  Felix  V. 

Pope  Eugenius  IV  wished  to  reason  with  the 
rebellious  princes,  but  none  of  the  Cardinals .  was 
willing  to  undertake  so  difficult  a  mission.  The 
Pope,  thereupon,  sent  William  of  Casali,  the  Fran- 
ciscan General,  who  was  well  known  and  respected 
in  France,  to  treat  with  the  king,  and  Capistran 
was  appointed  to  interview  the  two  dukes.  Both 
succeeded  in  their  mission,  and  reconciled  the 
princes  with  the  Church.  Capistran,  especially  was 
so  highly  esteemed  that  he  was  received  by  the 
people,  while  travelling,  rather  as  an  angel  from 
heaven  than  as  a  Legate.  The  wife  of  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy  made  a  long  journey  to  meet  him  and 
obtain  his  blessing  for  her  infant  son. 

The  partisans  of  Felix  were  infuriated  with  the 
friars  who  had  deprived  them  of  their  most  powerful 
support.  Twice  they  attempted  to  poison  Capis- 
tran. But  both  Legates  returned  safely  to  Rome 
and  were  honourably  received  by  the  Pope,  who 
thanked  them  and  praised  their  work  before  an 
assembly  of  the  Cardinals.1 

Capistran  had  ceased  to  be  Commissary  for  the 
Observantines  in  1438,  the  year  in  which  he  was 
summoned  to  the  Council  of  Ferrara,  and  since 
then  had  been  employed  in  important  delegations 

1  C/.  Wadd.  XI.  1  and  97. 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      39 

from  the  Holy  See ;  but  the  Order,  and,  especially, 
the  Observantine  family,  wished  to  have  the  ser- 
vices of  so  able  and  holy  a  man.  In  addition  to 
this  St.  Bernardine,  who  was  at  the  time  at  the 
head  of  the  reform  party,  with  the  title  of  Vicar- 
General,1  was  growing  old.  Capistran  was,  there- 
fore, called  upon  to  take  up  part  of  the  burden  of 
government,  being  made,  in  1441,  visitor  and  cus- 
todian of  the  Observantine  houses  in  the  provinces 
of  Genoa,  Milan,  and  Bologna. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  William  of  Casali, 
the  General  of  the  Order,  died,  and,  about  the 
same  time,  St.  Bernardine  retired  altogether  from 
office.  A  year  elapsed  before  a  full  chapter  was 
held,  and  meanwhile  Albert  of  Sartiano  was  ap- 
pointed Vicar-General  of  the  whole  Order.  He  at 
once  named  Capistran  commissary,  visitor,  and  re- 
former for  the  Observantines  in  Touraine,  France, 
Burgundy,  England,  Ireland,  and  the  other  ultra- 
montane provinces.  This  action  was  confirmed  by 
the  Pope  in  a  brief  addressed  to  Capistran,  wherein 
he  commanded  him  to  use  all  endeavours  to  win 
:  any  of  the  friars  who,  through  fear  of  princes, 
or  by  the  misrepresentations  of  Basle,  had  been  in- 
duced to  give  their  adherence  to  the  antipope  Felix.2 

In  this  document  nothing  was  said  concerning 

the  Sisters  of  St.  Clare,  the  Second  Order  of  St. 

cis,  though  among  them  a  movement  had  been 

ome  time  in  progress,  similar  to  the  reform  of 

1  This  title  was  maintained  by  the  chief  superiors  of  the 
Observantines  until  1517,  when  the  two  families  were  con- 
stituted under  distinct  Genera's.       *  Ap.  Wadd.  XI.  156  seq, 
4* 


4o  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

the  friars,  the  prime  mover  of  which  was  St.  Colette. 
The  defect  was  soon  made  good  by  the  Pope 
giving  to  Capistran  jurisdiction  over  the  reformed 
houses  of  the  Second  Order.  Upon  receipt  of  this 
he  wrote  to  St.  Colette  confirming  the  privileges 
already  granted  to  her  sisters.  The  original  letter, 
written  by  a  secretary,  but  signed  by  the  Saint,  is 
extant  in  the  Franciscan  friary  at  Ghent. 

Signature  of  St.  John  Capistran. 
(Letter  to  St.  Colette,  a.d.  1442.) 

The  General  Chapter  was  duly  held  in  1443,  at 
Padua.  The  Pope  ordained  that  the  Observantines 
should  be  governed  by  two  Vicars,  chosen  from 
their  own  brethren,  and  enjoying  the  same  authority 
among  them  as  the  General  had  over  the  whole 
Order.  To  these  offices  he  appointed  Capistran 
for  the  cismontane,  and  John  Maubert  for  the 
ultramontane  provinces.1 

Capistran  did  not  undertake  this  new  duty  with- 
out considerable  reluctance.  He  feared  that,  owing 
to  his  many  other  occupations,  he  would  not  be 
able  to  satisfy  all  the  claims  it  would  have  upon 
him.  Nevertheless,  when  he  did  accept  it,  he  set 
himself  to  work  with  characteristic  diligence  for 
the  welfare  of  his  brethren.  He  made  journeys 
through  all  the  provinces,  correcting  faults  and 
encouraging  virtue.  Best  of  all,  he  led  others  on 
by  his  own  shining  example. 

1  Decrees  ap.  Wadd.  XI.  176  seq. 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      41 

In  order  to  consolidate  the  good  he  was  striving 
to  effect,  he  retired  for  a  while  to  Mount  Alverna, 
and,  at  that  sanctuary  of  the  Order,  wrote  a  series  of 
constitutions  for  the  government  of  the  provinces 
committed  to  his  care.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  in 
these  constitutions,  he  earnestly  recommended  the 
pursuit  of  sacred  studies,  commanding  that  in  every 
province  certain  houses  should  be  specially  appointed 
for  this  purpose.  A  learned  man  himself,  he  knew 
the  value  and  the  necessity  of  learning  for  those 
who  were  engaged  in  the  divine  ministry  and  in 
preaching.  In  speech  and  in  letters,  he  was  un- 
sparing in  his  condemnation  of  those  who  defended 
ignorance  on  the  ground  of  its  being  holy  sim- 
plicity.1 

On  20  May,  1444,  St.  Bernardine  died  at  Aquila. 
Capistran  was  in  Sicily,  acting  as  Apostolic  Nuncio, 
when  he  heard  the  news.  Departing  hastily  for 
Aquila,  he  determined  to  take  measures  at  once  to 
promote  the  canonization  of  his  revered  master. 

God  was  pleased  to  show  by  a  sign  His  approval 
of  this  project.  We  have  the  Saint's  own  testimony 
of  this  in  his  life  of  St.  Bernardine.  He  says  that,  on 
reaching  Aquila,  after  his  hurried  journey  from 
Sicily,  he  preached  on  the  glories  of  our  Lady  to  a 
great  crowd  in  the  square  in  front  of  St.  Francis' 
church.  In  the  course  of  the  sermon,  the  people 
observed  a  star  of  extraordinary  brilliance  shining 
above  his  head,  just  as  it  had  appeared  at  the  same 
place,  and  at  about  the  same  hour — between  three 

1  Decrees  ap.  Waon,  XI.  223. 


42  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

and  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon — over  the  head  of 
St.  Bernardine,  when  he  was  preaching  on  the  same 
subject.1  Up  to  that  time  he  had  had  no  trust- 
worthy information  concerning  the  former  appari- 
tion, neither  did  he,  at  first,  perceive  the  star  on 
this  occasion;  but,  noticing  a  commotion  among 
his  audience,  he  inquired  the  reason,  and  then, 
looking  up,  saw  it  clearly.  Thereupon  he  gained 
fresh  courage  to  persevere  in  the  task  he  had  under- 
taken. Departing  next  day  for  Rome,  to  lay  his 
petition  before  the  Pope,  he  again  saw  the  star, 
accompanying  him  on  his  way ;  and  it  was  likewise 
seen  by  the  brethren  who  journeyed  with  him,  some 
of  whom,  still  living  at  the  time,  he  names  in  his 
narrative.2 

Soon  a  great  number  of  miracles  were  wrought 
at  the  intercession  of  the  departed  Saint.  Alphon- 
sus,  King  of  Aragon  and  Sicily,  and  the  citizens  of 
Siena  and  Aquila,  petitioned  the  Holy  See  for  his 
canonization.  Moved  by  these  requests  and  by 
Capistran's  urgent  entreaties,  Eugenius  IV,  in  the 
April  following,  appointed  a  commission  of  three 
Cardinals  to  inquire  into  the  miracles. 

Meanwhile  the  duties  of  his  office  in  the  Order 
were  causing  him  considerable  anxiety.  The  Ob- 
servantines  were  rapidly  increasing  in  number,  the 
result,  in  great  measure,  of  his  own  exertions ;  but 
the  compromise  made  in  1443,3  providing  a  dual 
authority  of  General  and  Vicars,  was  found  to  be 
unsatisfactory,  leading  to  many  misunderstandings 

1  In  the  year  1433.  '*Ap.  Wadd.  XI.  202. 

3  See  supra,  p.  40, 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.      43 

and  disputes.  Upon  this,  Capistran  urged  the 
Pope,  in  the  interest  of  peace,  to  withdraw  the  Ob- 
servantines  from  the  direct  control  of  the  General. 
Eugenius  IV  agreed,  and  commissioned  the  Saint 
himself  to  draw  up  a  bull  to  this  effect,  which  was 
promulgated  by  the  Holy  See  on  1 1  January,  1446. 
Moreover,  when  the  General  Chapter  of  the  Order 
was  held  in  the  same  year  at  Montpellier,  the  Pope 
commanded  that  there  should  be  no  interference 
with  the  affairs  of  the  Observantines.  That  Capis- 
tran was  not  actuated  in  this  matter  by  motives  of 
personal  ambition  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  re- 
signed his  office  as  soon  as  the  new  decree  had 
come  into  effect.1 

During  the  following  two  or  three  years  he  was 
engaged  upon  a  series  of  legations  from  the  Pope 
to  different  countries,  especially  to  France,  where 
he  had  to  treat  with  the  king  on  matters  of  great 
importance.  But,  in  1449,  ^e  was  again  called 
upon  to  rule  his  brethren,  this  time  in  the  capacity 
of  Vicar- General  of  all  the  Observantines. 

Amidst  all  these  cares  and  occupations,  he  was 
yet  able  to  pursue  his  apostolic  career,  converting 
heretics,  Jews,  and  bad  Catholics  by  his  preaching 
and  miracles — combining  this  ministry  with  the 
visitation  of  the  friaries  under  his  care.'  In  1450, 
he  held  a  public  disputation  at  Rome  with  Gam- 
aliel, the  master  of  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  with 
such  success  that  he  even  converted  him  and  forty 
of  his  followers  to  Christianity.2      He  continued, 

1  Decrees  ap.  Wadd.  XI.  250  seq. 

«  Christopher  of  Varese,  III,  ci.  Wadd.  XII.  64, 


44  ST,  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

likewise,  with  unabated  zeal,  the  work  he  had  so 
much  at  heart  of  procuring  the  canonization  of  St. 
Bemardine. 

The  process  had  been  interrupted  by  the  death 
of  Eugenius  IV,  which  occurred  on  2  2  February, 
1447  ;  and  it  may  be  interesting  to  notice  here  that 
this  event,  like  the  appointment  of  the  same  Pope 
sixteen  years  before,  had  been  foretold  by  Capistran. 
The  details  of  these  prophecies  are  given  by  Chris- 
topher of  Varese. 1 

Whilst  Eugenius  was  Bishop  of  Siena  he  was  on 
terms  of  cordial  friendship  with  the  Saint,  and  often 
invited  him  to  his  palace.  Capistran  was  accus- 
tomed, on  leaving,  to  kiss  the  Bishop's  hand ;  but 
one  day,  when  he  was  about  to  depart  from  Siena 
for  a  time,  he  knelt  and  kissed  his  feet  instead. 
The  Bishop,  greatly  surprised,  asked  why  he  did 
this ;  and  Capistran  replied  :  "  I  believe  I  shall 
not  see  you  again  until  you  are  Pope  ". 

The  second  prophecy  relates  to  Pope  Nicholas 
V,  whose  name  before  he  was  raised  to  the  Papacy 
was  Thomas  Parentucelli.  Two  years  previously 
he  had  been  made  Bishop  of  Bologna.  On  the 
day  of  his  episcopal  consecration  Capistran  said 
to  him  :  "  Now  you  are  made  Bishop  of  Bologna. 
I  congratulate  you.  But  you  will  go  farther ;  you 
will  be  a  Cardinal,  and,  afterwards,  Pope."  When 
the  Bishop  smiled  and  refused  to  believe  him, 
he  said:  "You  are  Thomas,  indeed,  for  Thomas 
was  incredulous  ".     When  the  event  had  come  to 

1  Q.  VI, 


en 


LABOURS  FOR  CHURCH  AND  ORDER.       >5 

pass  as  he  had  foretold  it,  Capistran  wrote  to  the  new 
Pope  :  "  Now  you  know  that  you  were  a  Thomas 
when  you  would  not  believe  ". 

We  learn  from  the  same  authority  that  the  Saint 
knew  of  the  death  of  Eugenius  IV  at  the  very 
time  it  occurred,  though  he  was  then  at  Aquila. 
He  tells  us  that  Capistran  was  reciting  the  office 
with  another  friar  named  Nicholas.  According 
to  custom  they  said  the  prayer  for  the  Pope,  and 
Nicholas  naturally  inserted  the  name  "Eugenius  ". 
But  the  Saint  interrupted.  "Say  Nicholas,"  he 
commanded.  The  other  said,  smilingly  :  "  I  shall 
never  be  Pope,"  and,  when  the  prayer  was  finished, 
said,  playfully :  u  If  I  am  ever  Pope  I  shall  make 
you  a  Cardinal ".  Then  Capistran  told  him  that 
Eugenius  was  dead  and  that  his  successor  would 
be  called  Nicholas. 

The  newly  elected  Pope,  like  his  predecessor, 
appointed  three  Cardinals  to  inquire  into  the 
miracles  wrought  by  St.  Bernardine.  Not  satisfied 
with  this,  he  named  two  Bishops  to  conduct  an  in- 
dependent inquiry ;  and,  lastly,  another  Bishop  to 
investigate  apart  from  the  rest.  The  result  of  all 
these  commissions  was  the  same,  namely,  that  the 
miracles  alleged  were  declared  authentic.  In  every 
case  Capistran  had  a  share  in  the  proceedings,  and 
persistently  kept  the  matter  before  the  minds  of 
the  Pope  and  Cardinals. 

Still  there  was  strong  opposition  from  many 
quarters.  St.  Bernardine  had  made  enemies  dur- 
ing life,  and  these  did  not  spare  him  now  that 
he  was  dead.     Evil  reports  of  various  kinds  were 


46  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

circulated.  Capistran  used  to  say,  half  playfully, 
but  sadly:  "Blessed  Bernardine,  pray  for  your- 
self! M  He  also  said  to  the  Pope,  at  a  time  when 
the  objections  raised  seemed  to  threaten  the  in- 
definite postponement  of  the  cause :  "  Take  the 
body  of  Blessed  Bernardine,  and  put  it  and  me 
upon  a  fire.  If  we  are  burned,  attribute  it  to  my 
sins.  If  we  are  spared,  acknowledge  the  Will  of 
God/' 

At  that  time  Blessed  Thomas  of  Florence,  a 
Franciscan  lay  brother  of  the  Observance,  had  re- 
cently died  and  had  become  famous  for  miracles. 
Even  this  was  used  as  an  objection  against  the 
cause  of  St.  Bernardine,  for  some  said  :  "  All  the 
friars  of  the  Observance  want  to  work  miracles ''. 
Capistran,  therefore,  went  to  his  tomb  and  said : 
"  Blessed  Thomas,  you  were  always  obedient  while 
living,  and  never  resisted  the  commands  of  your 
superiors.  I  order  you,  therefore,  in  virtue  of 
obedience,  to  cease  working  miracles,  so  as  not  to 
impede  the  canonization  of  Blessed  Bernardine." 
It  was  an  act  of  direct  and  simple  faith  which  God 
was  pleased  to  reward,  for  no  more  miracles  oc- 
curred there  till  after  Bernardine  had  been  solemnly 
declared  a  saint.1 

One  day,  during  the  process,  the  Pope  said  to 
Capistran  :  "  Who  will  work  for  your  canonization, 
Brother  John?"  The  Saint  replied  humbly  :  "1 
am  a  sinner,  and  such  things  are  not  for  sinners  ". 
This   opinion,   however,    was   not   shared   by   the 

1  Many  years  later  Thomas  of  Florence  was  beatified  by 
Clement  XIV, 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  47 

Bishops  who  were  investigating  the  case,  and  who 
thus  came  to  know  him  well,  for  they  are  reported 
to  have  said  :  "  We  should  like  to  tell  the  Pope 
that  he  ought  to  canonize  Brother  John  along  with 
Blessed  Bernardine  ". 

At  length,  after  six  years  of  patient  labour  on  the 
part  of  Capistran,  after  the  most  searching  inquiry 
into  the  virtues  and  miracles  brought  forward  by 
the  proponents  of  the  cause,  and  the  hearing  of 
every  objection,  the  canonization  took  place  at  St. 
Peter's  on  Whit-Sunday,  in  1450,  the  year  of 
Jubilee.  In  the  vast  assembly  of  citizens  and  pilgrims 
present  on  this  occasion  there  were  3800  friars,  and 
among  them,  St.  John  Capistran  and  St.  Didacus.1 

The  completion  of  this  long  task  marks  the  close 
of  the  Saint's  apostolic  work  in  Italy.  Soon  he  was 
called  to  a  new  sphere  of  labour,  which  was,  in  its 
turn,  to  lead  him  on  to  the  crowning  episode  of  his 
life. 

CHAPTER  V. 

GERMANY  AND  POLAND. 

Capistran  had  become  famous  throughout  Europe. 
Bishops  and  Cardinals,  even  beyond  the  Alps,  had 
long  vied  with  each  other  in  their  endeavours  to 
secure  his  services  as  a  preacher  to  evangelize  and 
reform  their  people.  But  a  new  task  now  awaited 
him,  one  for  which  he  was  well  fitted  by  previous 
experience,  but  of  such  magnitude  as  to  call  for 

1  Cf.  Christopher  of  Varese  VI. 


48  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

the  exercise  of  all  his  wisdom  and  sagacity,  as  well 
as  for  eloquence,  learning,  and  zeal. 

Frederick  III,  the  reigning  Emperor,  saw  all  his 
dominions  and  dependencies  being  overrun  by 
heresies,  to  the  destruction  of  peace  and  good  order. 
Hussites,  Taborites,  Adamites,  and  a  number  of 
other  lawless  sects,  in  addition  to  perverting  men's 
minds  from  the  truths  of  Catholic  doctrine,  attacked 
the  very  foundations  of  government  and  society. 
Anxious,  no  doubt,  for  the  security  of  his  throne, 
quite  as  much  as  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
people,  he  resolved  to  call  Capistran  to  his  aid,  feel- 
ing sure  that  he,  more  than  any  other  man,  was 
competent  to  cope  with  an  evil  so  widespread  and 
dangerous. 

For  this  purpose,  early  in  145 1,  he  sent  a 
special  embassy  to  the  Pope,  Nicholas  V,  headed 
by  ^Eneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,1  asking  that  Cap- 
istran might  be  sent  to  adjust  the  disputes  among 
the  princes  of  the  Empire  and,  especially,  to  bring 
back  Bohemia  and  the  neighbouring  provinces  to 
the  unity  of  the  Church.  Albert,  Duke  of  Austria, 
the  Emperor's  brother,  also  joined  in  making  the 
request.  To  this  the  Pope  willingly  assented,  ap- 
pointing Capistran  at  the  same  time  Pontifical 
commissary  and  general  inquisitor.2 

Accordingly  after  Easter  he  left  Venice,  where 
he  had  been  preaching  during  Lent,  and  proceeded 

1  Formerly  secretary  to  the  Emperor,  he  was  at  this  time 
Bishop  of  Siena.  Afterwards  he  was  made  a  Cardinal,  and, 
finally,  Pope  (1458-1464)  under  the  title  of  Pius  II, 

8  Documents  ap,  Wadd.  XII.  78. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  49 

to  Rome  to  confer  with  the  Pope  and  receive  his 
blessing.  Then  he  went  to  Assisi,  where  he  spent 
some  days  in  prayer  and  in  making  more  immedi- 
ate preparations  for  the  journey.  He  selected 
twelve  companions  from  among  the  brethren  of  his 
Order — seven  priests  and  five  lay  brothers.  Among 
the  former  were  Nicholas  of  Fara  and  Christopher 
of  Varese.  Their  narratives,  therefore,  are,  from 
this  time,  those  of  eyewitnesses. 

It  is  interesting  here  to  note  the  description  given 
by  Nicholas  of  the  Saint's  personal  appearance  at 
this  time.  He  stood  erect,  but  was  of  somewhat 
short  stature;  his  hair  was  grey  and  curling,  the 
crown  of  his  head  bald,  his  face  handsome  and 
of  ruddy  complexion,  his  whole  aspect  calm  and 
venerable.  His  arms  were  long,  reaching  to  the 
knees — a  sign  of  great  bodily  strength.1 

The  whole  journey  from  Italy  into  the  German 
.  nre,  as  far  as  Vienna,  was  signalized  by  an  extra- 
ordinary number  of  miracles.  Christopher  of  Var- 
ese2— who  merely  gives  a  summary  review  of  them, 
on  the  ground  that  they  are  more  fully  recorded  at 
Venice  and  elsewhere — nevertheless  presents  a  list 
quite  bewildering  in  number  and  variety,  but  syste- 
matically noted,  day  by  day,  together  with  the  names 
of  the  places  where  they  occurred.  The  following 
is  a  very  short  extract :  "  On  the  road  to  Clemona 
on  1 1  May,  a  woman  who  had  been  deaf  for  twelve 
years ;  at  the  Franciscan  friary  in  Clemona  on  1 2 
May,  two  men  deaf  and  dumb  from  birth,  twenty- 

1  C.  I.  -C.  VIII. 


50  ST.  JOHN  CAP  I  ST  RAN. 

six  with  gout,  one  almost  totally  blind,  and  one  a 
lunatic  and  paralyzed  in  the  legs ;  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day,  six  who  were  unable  to  walk  with- 
out sticks,  through  gout  or  other  diseases,  one  deaf 
and  dumb  from  birth,  one  who  could  move  neither 
head  nor  arms,  a  woman  blind  in  one  eye  and  one 
with  a  contracted  hand;  on  13  May,  at  the  same 
place,  three  lame,  seven  deaf,  one  dumb  and  un- 
able to  walk  without  a  stick,  and  one  almost  blind 
for  twelve  years,  were  miraculously  cured." 

When  they  arrived  at  Villak  in  Carinthia,  and  so 
entered  the  Emperor's  territory,  they  found  a  pes- 
tilence raging  there  which  had  already  carried  off 
a  great  number  of  people  with  swift  and  sudden 
death.  The  victims  were  seized  with  a  kind  of 
paralysis  in  the  streets,  at  work,  or  in  their  homes, 
always  without  warning.  So  they  remained  helpless 
and  unable  to  move,  and  died  within  a  few  hours. 
Many  of  these  were  brought  to  the  Saint.  He 
cured  them  all,  to  the  astonishment  and  delight  of 
the  beholders  and  victims ;  and  the  beds  and  chairs 
on  which  the  latter  had  been  carried  still  remained 
at  the  Franciscan  church  at  the  time  Nicholas  wrote 
the  life  of  Capistran — deposited  there  as  memorials 
of  their  owners'  wonderful  deliverance.1 

It  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that,  with  the  rumours 
of  these  wondrous  happenings  spreading  through 
the  land,  the  journey  of  the  little  company  of  friars 
became  a  triumphal  progress.  Nicholas  of  Fara, 
writing  from  Vienna  to  the  Provincial  of  Tuscany  2 

1  Nicholas  of  Fara,  C.  VIII. 
M/.  Wadd.  XII.  84. 


.. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  51 

told  him  that  everywhere  the  clergy,  magistrates, 
and  people  came  out  to  meet  them,  singing  hymns 
and  crying  joyfully ;  "  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord".  Everywhere  Capistran 
preached  to  the  multitude,  addressing  in  these 
sermons  not  the  people  of  one  particular  town 
alone ;  for  they  followed  him  from  place  to  place, 
and  some  made  journeys  of  many  miles  to  see  and 
hear  him.  They  would  bear  hunger  and  thirst 
and  every  hardship.  They  would  sleep  on  the 
ground,  so  as  to  be  near  the  place  where  he  was 
to  preach,  and  would  deem  all  this  toil  well  re- 
warded if  they  could  but  touch  or  kiss  his  habit. 

On  30  May,  they  arrived  at  Wienerisch- 
Neustadt,  whither  the  Emperor  and  his  court  had 
come  to  welcome  the  Saint  and  conduct  him 
to  Vienna.  It  was  a  striking  spectacle — the  most 
powerful  sovereign  of  Christendom  thus  doing 
honour  to  the  poor  Franciscan  Friar — but  Fred- 
erick III,  mighty  Emperor  though  he  was,  knew 
well  that  he  was  still  more  highly  honoured  in 
receiving  God's  own  ambassador  into  his  realms. 

Eight  miles  from  the  city  they  were  met  by  the 
clergy  and  magistrates,  doctors  and  bachelors  of  the 
university,  the  guilds,  and  a  host  of  citizens  who 
escorted  them  io  triumph. 

For  fifty  days  the  Saint  preached  in  the  Capital. 
Hungarians,  Moravians,  and  Bavarians  came  to 
swell  the  throng  of  hearers.  Many  were  heretics, 
but  of  these  the  greater  number  renounced  their 
errors  on  beholding  the  wonders  of  the  apostolic 
age  renewed.    For  miracles  were  now  more  numer- 


52  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

ous  than  before.  Christopher  of  Varese  still  kept 
his  daily  account  as  faithfully  as  when  on  the 
journey,  but  now  he  had  far  more  to  record.  The 
audience  at  a  single  sermon  often  numbered  a 
hundred  thousand,  and  Nicholas  of  Fara,  in  the 
letter  already  mentioned,  stated  that  he  often  saw 
three  or  four  thousand  afflicted  persons  at  one 
time,  waiting  to  be  cured. 

On  Whit-Sunday  no  miracles  were  wrought. 
The  people  wondered  more  at  this  than  at  the 
miracles  they  had  already  witnessed.  His  own 
brethren  said  that  God  wished  to  try  his  patience. 
But  the  Saint  rebuked  them.  "  O  men  of  little 
faith,"  he  said,  "  why  do  you  doubt  ?  To-morrow 
you  shall  see  the  glory  of  God.''  On  the  following 
day  twenty  miracles  were  witnessed. 

On  Trinity  Sunday,  among  twenty-three  miracles, 
the  following  occurred.  A  girl  of  seventeen  years 
was  lying  so  near  death  that  her  parents  were 
already  thinking  more  of  her  funeral  than  of  any- 
thing that  could  be  done  to  cure  her,  when  the 
Saint  exclaimed  :  "  In  the  name  of  Jesus,  arise  and 
walk  ".  The  girl  arose  and  walked  as  easily  and 
naturally  as  though  she  had  been  roused  from  sleep, 
not  recalled  from  the  very  jaws  of  death.1 

These  are  facts  left  on  record  by  witnesses  whose 
accounts  were  written  at  the  time  or  very  shortly 
afterwards,2  when  they  could  easily  have  been  re- 
futed had  they  been  untrue ;  but,  lest  it  may  be 

1  Christopher  of  Varese  VIII. 

2  Nicholas  of  Fara's  letter  was  written  twenty-eight  days 
after  their  arrival  at  Vienna. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  53 

thought  that  the  enthusiasm  of  the  writers  outran 
their  discretion,  it  may  be  well  to  quote  the  words 
of  ^neas  Sylvius,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
scholarly  men  of  the  time. 

He  says  in  his  "  History  of  Frederick  III  "  :  "  At 
that  time  John  Capistran  came  into  Germany, 
and,  passing  through  Carinthia  and  Styria,  entered 
Austria.  Priests  and  people  came  out  to  meet  him, 
carrying  the  sacred  relics.  They  received  him  as  a 
legate  of  the  Apostolic  See,  as  a  preacher  of  truth, 
as  some  great  prophet  sent  by  God.  They  came 
down  from  the  mountains  to  greet  John,  as  though 
Peter  or  Paul  or  one  of  the  other  Apostles  were 
journeying  there.  They  eagerly  kissed  the  hem  of 
his  garment,  brought  their  sick  and  afflicted  to  his 
feet ;  and  it  is  reported  that  very  many  were  cured. 
He  remained  a  few  days  at  Wienerisch-Neustadt, 
preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  calling  on  all 
men  to  do  penance.  Meanwhile  the  fame  of  his 
miracles  reached  Vienna :  a  holy  man  had  come, 
an  apostle  of  God  who  banished  diseases,  who 
taught  the  way  of  God  in  truth,  who  despised 
money,  fled  from  honours  and  lived  frugally.  The 
people  came  out  to  him  in  throngs.  The  elders  of 
the  city  met  him  and  conducted  him  to  Vienna. 
...  No  square  in  the  city  could  contain  the 
crowds.  .  .  .  They  looked  on  him  as  an  angel  of 
God." 

One  other  miracle,  more  wonderful  than  the 
.  is  related  by  Christopher  of  Varese.1     "At 

1C.  VIII. 

5 


54  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

Hofflein  near  Laab,  a  woman  named  Clare, 
of  Peter,  a  tailor,  was  baking  bread  on  a  certain 
Saturday  about  midday.  Meanwhile  her  daughter, 
Catherine,  unnoticed  by  anyone,  fell  into  a  well  in 
the  middle  of  the  village  and  was  drowned ;  and 
her  body  remained  there  until  Monday.  When 
she  was  taken  out  her  mother  and  her  brother, 
Lawrence,  carried  her  secretly  to  Vienna.  When 
they  came  to  where  the  Father  was,  they  could 
not  get  near  him  on  account  of  the  crowd.  The 
afflicted  woman,  therefore,  approached  as  near  as 
she  could  and,  with  the  dead  body,  received  his 
blessing.  Then  she  quietly  retired  to  the  chapel 
of  St.  Bernardine.  There,  looking  on  the  face  of 
the  child,  she  saw  that  she  was  alive.  Still  saying 
nothing,  she  returned  to  her  home,  and  then  re- 
lated to  everyone  what  had  happened." 

But  Capistran  had  not  yet  reached  the  scene  of 
the  principal  work  for  which  he  had  come  from 
Italy.  Bohemia  was  the  chief  stronghold  of  the 
Hussites,  and  was  the  place  of  origin  of  wilder  and 
more  lawless  sects  whose  extravagant  and  immoral 
practices !  were  made  possible  by  the  licence  the 
Hussites  allowed  to  all  who  were  not  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  Thence  the  influence  of  heresy  was  con- 
stantly infecting  the  whole  of  northern  Europe. 
Little  permanent  good,  then,  could  result  from 
evangelizing    outlying   districts   while   the   central 

1  Especially  the  Taborites  and  Adamites,  whose  excesses 
were  such  as  seem  almost  incredible  at  this  day.  It  may 
suffice  to  mention  that  the  Adamites  were  so  called  because 
they  refused  to  wear  clothing. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  55 

source  of  evil  remained  untouched.  Therefore, 
towards  the  end  of  July,  he  obtained  the  Emperor's 
permission  to  leave  the  capital  and  proceed  to 
Bohemia. 

Here,  however,  he  was  met  by  new  difficulties 
and  obstacles  so  persistent  that  they  were  never 
really  overcome. 

George  Podiebrad,  an  ardent  supporter  of  the 
Hussites,  had  been  named,  in  1444,  one  of  the 
two  regents  of  Bohemia,  to  govern  the  country  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  Ladislaus  V,  of  Hungary  and 
Bohemia.  In  this  year,  1451,  after  a  long  conflict 
with  the  Catholic  party,  he  had  succeeded  in  being 
recognized  as  sole  regent.1  In  this  capacity  he 
upheld  the  claims  of  the  notorious  Rokyzana,  the 
pseudo-bishop  of  Prague.  The  latter,  while  re- 
pudiating the  grosser  excesses  of  the  Taborites  and 
others,  and  professing  to  be  a  Catholic,  still  obsti- 
nately adhered  to  the  four  "Articles  of  Prague," 
namely :  (1 )  That  any  person  was  free  to  preach. 
(2)  That  Communion  must  be  given  under  both 
kinds.  (3)  That  all  the  clergy  were  bound  to  live 
in  poverty.  (4)  That  all  public  mortal  sins  were 
to  be  punished  by  the  state.  These  articles  had 
been  embodied  in  the  "Compact"  between  the 
Bohemian  heretics  and  the  Council  of  Basle. 

Little  astuteness  was  needed  on  the  part  of  these 
two  men  to  perceive  that  if  Capistran  were  to  preach 
in  Bohemia,  especially,  working  miracles  in  proof 
of  his  doctrine,  the  people  would  follow  him  as 

1  He  became  King  of  Bohemia  in  1459. 

5* 


56  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

they  had  done  elsewhere,  and  their  own  prestige 
would  suffer  accordingly.  Podiebrad,  therefore, 
issued  orders  that  he  should  not  be  permitted  to 
enter  the  kingdom,  and  this  prohibition  was  all  the 
more  easily  carried  into  effect  on  account  of  the 
bodyguard  which  the  Emperor  had  sent  for  his 
protection,  and  which  also  served  to  make  his  pres- 
ence conspicuous.  Some  of  the  principal  nobles 
of  the  kingdom  were,  however,  among  Capistran's 
most  ardent  supporters,  especially  Ulrich  Maynard 
of  Rosenberg,  the  leader  of  the  Catholic  party,  but 
their  influence  was  unavailing  at  this  juncture. 

Since  Bohemia  was  closed  to  him,  Capistran 
found  scope  for  his  apostolic  zeal  by  preaching  in 
Moravia.1  Brun,  Olmutz,  and  other  towns  received 
him  with  an  enthusiasm  rivalling  that  of  Austria. 
Miracles  were  as  frequent,  and  thousands  of  heretics 
were  received  back  into  the  Church.  The  Saint 
himself  testified  to  this  last-mentioned  fact  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  University  of  Vienna. 

"  Most  excellent  masters  and  doctors  :  When  I 
entered  Moravia,  I  worked  with  all  my  might  against 
the  lying  heresies  of  the  Bohemians,  as,  indeed,  I 
was  in  duty  bound  to  do.  Undeterred  by  threats 
or  fear  of  violence,  I  spoke  in  public  and  to  the 
best  of  my  ability  to  confute  that  impious  doctrine 
of  theirs  that  it  is  necessary  for  salvation  to  com- 
municate under  both  kinds.  And  so  it  came  to 
pass  that  more  than  4000  barons,  nobles,  and 
priests  renounced  the  Hussite  heresy  in  my  hands, 

1  Moravia  was  at  this  time  a  subject  state  to  Bohemia,  but 
it  enjoyed  a  considerable  measure  of  independence. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  57 

besides  many  other  persons  who  live  under  the 
rule  of  the  said  barons." 

Wadding,1  who  has  preserved  the  text  of  this 
letter,  likewise  states  that  he  has  had  access  to  the 
archives  of  the  friary  at  Capistrano,  and  has  seen 
the  register,  kept  from  day  to  day  by  the  Saint's 
secretary,  containing  the  names  and  qualities  of 
those  who  submitted,  and  noting  the  towns,  places, 
and  the  witnesses  of  the  abjurations.  There  are 
more  than  11,000  entries  from  the  end  of  July, 
14  5 1,  to  the  following  May. 

News  of  this  continued  success  necessarily  pene- 
trated into  Bohemia.  Capistran  himself  might  be 
excluded  by  force ;  but  the  fame  of  such  prodigies 
and  the  report  of  such  numerous  abjurations  was 
bound  to  be  injurious  to  the  Hussite  ascendency. 
Podiebrad  and  Rokyzana  saw  that  they  must  take 
some  action  if  they  were  to  maintain  the  popularity 
of  their  cause. 

Rokyzana  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Capistran,  ad- 
dressing him  in  very  friendly  terms,  and  affecting 
surprise  that  he  should  preach  against  the  compact 
of  Basle.  After  greetings  of  the  most  flattering 
kind,  and  the  expression  of  a  long-felt  desire  to  see 
him — a  wish  frustrated  by  the  perils  of  travel  and 
his  own  bodily  infirmities — he  proceeds :  "  What, 
beloved  brother  in  Christ,  what  is  this  that  I  hear  ? 
!  that  you,  putting  aside  the  fear  of  God,  cease 
not  to  curse  God's  people,  that  is,  the  Bohemian 
nation,  accusing  and  condemning  them  of  heresy. 

'XII,  88. 


58  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

That  you  extinguish  charity  among  the  people  and 
provoke  strife,  because  of  the  most  holy  Com- 
munion of  the  Chalice  which  is  given  to  the  people 
in  the  Church  of  God.  And  yet  the  most  holy 
Council  of  Basle — assembled  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  representing  the  universal  Church  of  God — 
commanded,  by  the  authority  of  Christ  and  the 
Church  His  spouse,  that  it  should  be  so  given  to 
the  people,  as  appears  from  the  compact  between 
the  said  Council  and  the  Bohemians.  ..." 

Capistran  replied  that  he  did  condemn  the  Bo- 
hemians for  many  things,  but,  especially,  because 
they  taught  that  the  Communion  of  the  Chalice  was 
necessary  for  salvation.  He  offered  to  discuss  the 
question  in  any  place  his  opponent  pleased  to 
appoint. 

Several  letters  passed ;  and,  after  various  delays, 
it  was  agreed  to  hold  the  conference  at  Krummau, 
within  the  Bohemian  territory,  on  28  October. 
Podiebrad  also  wrote  granting  the  Saint  safe-con- 
duct for  the  journey.  But,  although  Capistran 
duly  arrived  at  Krummau  and  actually  stayed  there, 
at  least  from  18  October  to  14  November,  as  we 
learn  from  the  journal  kept  by  Christopher  of 
Varese,1  Rokyzana  did  not  appear  and,  prob- 
ably, had  never  intended  to  do  so.  Podiebrad,  too, 
had  acted  treacherously,  having  given  orders  that 
the  people  of  Krummau  were  not  to  receive  Cap- 
istran in  the  event  of  his  coming  to  their  town,  but 
were  to  treat  him  as  an  outlaw.     It  was  due,  largely, 

1  C.  IX. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  59 

to  the  protection  of  Rosenberg  that  the  Saint  es- 
caped molestation,  for  he  preached  fearlessly  as  he 
was  wont  to  do  and  worked  a  number  of  miracles. 

It  would  be  tedious  here  to  pursue  the  long 
correspondence  that  passed  between  Capistran 
and  the  Hussite  leaders ;  to  relate  how  the  latter 
strove  to  incriminate  him  in  the  mind  of  Cardinal 
Nicholas  Cusa,  the  Papal  Legate;  and  how,  at 
length,  they  descended  to  the  grossest  personal 
abuse  and  vituperation  in  their  letters.  All  this 
can  be  seen  in  full  in  "  Wadding's  Annals  ",l 

The  whole  affair  closed  in  a  manner  unsatis- 
factory to  both  parties.  Podiebrad  and  Rokyzana 
did  not  succeed  in  discrediting  Capistran,  even  when 
they  employed  men  to  spread  evil  reports  about 
him ; 2  and  he  had  but  little  opportunity  to  preach 
in  Bohemia.  Still  the  moral  effect  of  the  incident 
was  to  the  advantage  of  the  Catholic  cause ;  and, 
in  the  visits  which  Capistran  was  able  to  make  at 
one  time  or  another  to  the  country,  he  converted 
no  fewer  than  sixteen  thousand  Hussites.3 

Nicholas  V,  hearing  of  the  devoted  labours  of 
this  new  apostle  of  the  German  people,  wrote  him  a 
letter  of  warm  commendation  in  which  he  granted 
indulgences  to  all  who  should  assist  at  his  sermons 
or  sacred  functions,  and  gave  him  more  ample 
powers  of  absolution  from  heresy.  This  letter  was 
dated  28  October,  1451,  the  day  on  which  the 
conference  with  Rokyzana  should  have  been  held.4 

But,  though  baffled  in  one  direction,  and  that 

'Vol.  XII.  *lbid.  p.  97. 

-liocozzo.  «  Cf.  Wadd.  XII,  97. 


60  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

one  the  most  important  of  all,  there  was  still  a  wide 
field  left  open  for  Capistran's  apostolic  labours. 
The  Emperor's  wish  was  that  he  should  evangelize 
all  the  German  states  and  provinces.  Accordingly 
on  referring  to  the  journal  of  Christopher  of  Varese, 
with  its  daily  account  of  miracles,  we  find  him 
visiting  successively,  Wissenhoffen,  Ratisbon,  Eger, 
Hellinetz,  Zwittau,  Kamnitz,  Freibourg,  Meissen, 
Sayda,  and  Briick.  This  journey  occupied  the 
time  from  November,  145 1,  to  Pentecost,  1452. 
Resuming  his  travels,  he  preached  in  many  other 
places  and  was  received  everywhere  with  demonstra- 
tions of  joy  and  veneration  ;  but  instead  of  naming 
these,  it  may  be  well  to  mention  three  cities  where 
he  tarried  longer  than  was  his  wont,  and  left  a 
correspondingly  deep  and  lasting  impression  upon 
the  mind  and  conduct  of  the  citizens. 

He  was  at  Nuremberg  from  20  July  to  the 
middle  of  August,  1452.  John  Cochlaeus  of  this 
city  wrote  a  description  of  the  Saint  and  of  his 
manner  of  life  at  that  time  : 1  "  Those  who  saw 
him  at  Nuremberg  describe  him  as  a  man  small  of 
body,  withered,  emaciated,  nothing  but  skin  and 
nerves  and  bones,  but  cheerful,  strong,  and  strenu- 
ous in  labour.  .  .  .  He  slept  in  his  habit,  rose  be- 
fore dawn,  recited  matins,  lauds,  prime  and  terce, 
and  then  celebrated  Mass.  After  that  he  preached, 
in  Latin,  a  sermon  which  was  afterwards  explained 
to  the  people  by  an  interpreter.  When  the  sermon 
was  concluded,  he  returned  to  the  friary  of  his  Order. 

1  Ap.  Wadd.  XII,  87. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  61 

Sext  and  none  being  finished,  he  visited  the  sick 
and  stayed  with  them  a  long  time.  He  laid  his 
hands  on  them  and  prayed  for  them  all,  touching 
them  with  the  cap  of  St.  Bernardine  and  with  a 
cloth  stained  with  that  Saint's  blood.  Then  he 
took  his  meal,  and  afterwards  received  people  who 
had  come  to  see  him.  After  vespers,  he  returned 
to  the  sick  and  remained  with  them  till  nightfall, 
when  he  recited  compline  and  other  prayers  and 
retired  to  rest.  But  even  then  he  scarcely  slept  at 
all,  but  occupied  himself  with  the  study  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  There  was  wondrous  strength  in 
that  small  body,  maintained  without  doubt  by 
divine  grace,  and  unimpaired  by  age  or  fatigue. 
Such,  too,  was  his  manner  of  speaking,  that  even 
those  who  did  not  understand  his  words  were 
moved  nevertheless  to  tears  and  amendment  of 
life." 

At  Leipzig,  a  solemn  assembly  of  the  doctors 
and  students  of  the  university  was  held  to  celebrate 
the  Saint's  arrival,  and  he  was  invited  to  address 
them.  About  seventy  offered  themselves  as  candi- 
dates for  the  Franciscan  Order,  and,  before  he  left, 
this  number  had  grown  to  a  hundred  and  twenty.1 

He  stayed  at  Breslau,  the  capital  of  Silesia,  from 
13  February  to  the  end  of  August,  1453.  In  no 
other  town  of  Germany  did  he  stay  so  long.  He 
won  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  the  citizens  at 
who  long  revered  his  memory.  But  here  he 
had  to  contend  with  obstinate  and  protracted  op- 

iNicholatofFaraVIl. 


62  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

position  from  Jews  and  Hussites.  Wadding  relates 
an  anecdote  concerning  the  latter.  Some  of  the 
sectaries,  desiring  to  throw  ridicule  on  the  Saint's 
miracles,  came  to  him,  pretending  to  be  Catholics, 
and  bringing  with  them  a  bier  adorned  with  funeral 
trappings.  This  was  supposed  to  contain  a  dead 
body,  but,  in  reality,  a  confederate  of  theirs,  a 
young  man,  alive  and  well,  was  within.  With 
feigned  weeping  and  lamentation,  and  before  a 
large  crowd  of  people,  they  begged  the  Saint  to 
raise  the  dead  to  life.  Capistran  cried  aloud  and 
with  a  stern  aspect.  "  Let  his  portion  be  with  the 
dead  for  ever ! "  and  at  once  departed.  But  the 
pretended  funeral  party  laughed  at  him.  "See," 
they  said,  "  What  a  holy  and  pious  man  he  is.  He 
runs  away  because  he  cannot  raise  the  dead  to  life. 
Now  you  will  see,"  they  said  to  the  people,  "  that 
we  have  holier  men  among  ourselves.  Go,"  said 
they  to  one.  "  You  give  him  back  life."  And  he 
called  loudly  :  "  Peter,  I  say  to  thee,  arise  !  "  But 
there  was  no  movement  nor  reply.  The  man  came 
nearer  and  whispered  :  "  Get  up.  What  are  you 
doing?  It  is  time  to  rise  from  the  dead."  Still 
there  was  no  answer.  They  removed  the  pall  and 
found  the  young  man  quite  dead.  It  was  a  terrible 
lesson,  but  it  converted  many  people,  and,  among 
them,  the  victim's  accomplices.  These  men  were 
truly  penitent,  and  after  becoming  Catholics,  sent 
two  of  their  number  to  Rome  to  testify  to  the 
miracle. 

But  during  all  the  time  these  labours  were  in 
progress  within  the  Empire,  urgent  entreaties  were 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  63 

being  made  to  the  Saint  to  extend  to  Poland  the 
blessings  of  his  presence  and  doctrine. 

In  145 1,  the  year  in  which  Capistran  came  to 
Germany,  Casimir  IV,  King  of  Poland,  wrote  in- 
viting him  to  preach  in  his  country.  In  this  letter, 
after  lamenting  the  unhappy  condition  of  Bohemia, 
and  the  infection  of  heresy  that  emanated  therefrom 
to  the  injury  of  other  peoples,  he  goes  on  to  say : 
"  But,  Father,  when  you  have  completed  your  work 
in  that  country,  do  not  disdain  to  come  and  visit  our 
kingdom  of  Poland.  Turn  aside  from  your  path, 
I  beseech  you,  and  by  the  mercy  of  God  I  pray, 
despise  not  us  your  devoted  son.  Consider  our 
kingdom  of  Poland,  always  steadfast  in  its  adher- 
ence to  the  Catholic  faith.  Here,  too,  is  the  duchy 
of  Lithuania,  whose  people  our  illustrious  ancestor, 
the  most  Christian  king  Ladislaus  of  Poland,  won 
from  the  worship  of  idols  to  the  knowledge  and 
worship  of  the  one  true  God.  Both  these  peoples 
of  our  dominions  are  most  desirous  of  seeing  you, 
and  earnestly  pray  you  to  come  among  them.  .  .  ." 
He  then  alludes  to  his  territories  in  Russia,  where 
the  people  had,  unfortunately,  entered  into  com- 
munion with  the  Greek  Church  ;  yet  their  secession 
was  so  recent  that  there  was  reasonable  hope  of 
converting  them.  Lastly  there  were  the  Ruthinians, 
ample  and  uncouth  men,  who,  though  in  error, 
could  be  reclaimed  far  more  easily  than  the  Bo- 
hemians. "Undo  all  these  evils,"  the  king  im- 
plores. "  By  your  works  and  merits,  make  the  light 
shine  into  their  darkness.  Remember  the  Apostles, 
whose  footsteps  and  example  you  follow,  who  tra- 


64  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

versed  divers  countries  sowing  the  Gospel  truths. 
You  who  are,  in  a  manner,  assured  of  the  reward 
of  your  labours,  delay  not  in  coming  to  bring  sal- 
vation to  so  many  people  whose  conversion  depends 
upon  you.  Bear  in  mind  the  great  host  you  will 
lead  to  heaven  if  you  come,  how  many  you  will 
permit  Satan  to  enslave  if  you  delay.  Gird  your- 
self then,  mighty  champion,  to  this  work,  to  which 
the  voice  of  many  nations  calls  you,  and  we  by  our 
prayers  invite  you.   .  .  .  " * 

In  April  of  the  following  year,  Cardinal  Zbigniew 
Olesniski,  Bishop  of  Cracow,  wrote  in  similar  terms, 
referring  at  the  same  time  to  former  letters  he  had 
written  with  the  same  object,  and  to  a  promise  re- 
ceived from  Capistran  that  he  would  comply  with 
his  request. 

Still  Capistran  tarried ;  for  his  work  in  the  various 
provinces  of  Germany  seemed  more  important,  just 
as  the  ravages  of  heresy  were  more  serious,  than 
the  projected  mission  to  Poland.  However,  the 
Cardinal  persevered  in  his  request.  He  sent  an- 
other letter  on  28  March,  1453,  and  soon  after 
that  commissioned  John  Dlugosz,  his  private  secre- 
tary, to  wait  on  Capistran  and  to  remain  with  him, 
so  as  continually  to  press  him  to  comply  with  the 
petition,  and  to  accompany  him  whenever  he  should 
come. 

At  length  the  Saint  felt  he  could  no  longer  re- 
sist these  urgent  entreaties.  He  was  preaching  at 
Breslau  and  was  anxious  to  consolidate  the  good 

1  Ap.  VVadd.  XII,  98. 


... 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  65 

work  begun  there,  but  was  preparing  to  depart 
when  a  new  circumstance  arose  to  hinder  him,  and 
prevent  his  going  until  late  in  August.  Strangely 
enough,  it  was  connected  with  the  interests  of 
Poland. 

It  had  been  arranged  to  hold  a  meeting  at 
Breslau  between  the  representatives  of  Casimir  IV 
of  Poland  and  Ladislaus  V  the  young  King  of  Hun- 
gary, to  negotiate  the  terms  of  a  projected  marriage 
between  the  former  and  Elizabeth,  the  sister  of 
Ladislaus.  Breslau  had  been  chosen  as  the  place 
of  conference,  and  Capistran's  intervention  and 
advice  had  been  asked.  He  accepted  the  com- 
mission readily,  in  view  of  the  important  bearing 
it  would  have  upon  the  welfare  of  the  two  countries. 
The  matter  was  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  both 
parties,  and  with  the  warm  approval  of  the  people 
of  Breslau.  Just  before  the  departure  of  the  en- 
voys, Capistran  preached  a  sermon  on  the  words  : 
"  This  is  the  day  that  the  Lord  hath  made.  Let  us 
be  glad  and  rejoice  therein." 

His  entry  into  Cracow  on  28  August,  1453,  re- 
sembled his  progress  to  Vienna  two  years  before. 
Casimir  himself,  with  Sophia,  the  Queen  Mother, 
went  out  a  distance  of  two  miles  to  meet  him,  ac- 
companied by  the  Cardinal  and  all  the  clergy,  the 
senate  and  barons,  with  people  of  every  rank  and 
degree,  escorting  him  to  the  city  with  psalms  and 
hymns  of  joy. 

A  pulpit  was  erected  outside  the  church  of  St. 
Adalbert.  There  he  preached  each  day  after  Mass 
for  two  hours.     Then  for  two  hours  more  a  Polish 


66  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

priest  explained  the  sermon  to  the  people  in  their 
own  tongue.  Still  they  were  not  wearied  of  hearing 
him,  but  thronged  about  his  pulpit  every  day  until 
winter  set  in.  Only  then,  on  account  of  the  ex- 
treme cold,  was  a  change  made,  and  the  sermons 
preached  in  the  church  of  our  Lady.  He  remained 
at  Cracow  from  August,  1453,  to  15  May,  1454; 
and,  during  that  time,  cured  a  vast  number  of  sick, 
blind,  lame,  and  persons  suffering  from  divers  in- 
firmities. Multitudes  came  to  hear  him  from  every 
part  of  Poland  and  from  the  neighbouring  provinces, 
and  more  than  a  hundred  entered  the  Franciscan 
Order. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  John  Dlugosz, *  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Lemberg,  a  man  of  learning  and 
authority  and  one  of  the  principal  historians  of  Po- 
land. He  had  the  best  possible  opportunity  of 
being  sure  of  its  accuracy,  seeing  that  he  accom- 
panied the  Saint  on  his  journey  from  Breslau,  and 
was  in  attendance  on  him,  by  order  of  the  Cardinal, 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  stay  in  Poland. 

On  9  February,  1454,  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  the 
royal  bride,  came  to  Cracow  to  be  married  and 
crowned  on  the  following  day.  A  difference  of 
opinion  arose  as  to  whether  the  ceremony  should 
be  performed  by  Cardinal  Zbigniew,  the  Bishop  of 
Cracow,  or  by  John  Sprowski  who  was  Archbishop 
of  Gnesen.  Both  agreed  to  give  way  in  favour  of 
Capistran  ;  but  he  declined  the  honour,  giving  as 
his  reason  the  fact  that  he  was  ignorant  of  both 

1  Ap.  Boll.  X  Oct.  345-6. 


GERMANY  AND  POLAND.  67 

Polish  and  German.  A  compromise  was  accord- 
ingly arranged.  The  Cardinal  performed  the  mar- 
riage ceremony ;  then  the  Archbishop  celebrated 
Mass  and  crowned  the  queen ;  and  afterwards 
Capistran  solemnly  blessed  the  royal  couple.1 
The  second  son  born  of  this  marriage  was  St. 
Casimir. 

In  May  the  holy  man  left  the  capital,  and  began 
to  preach  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom ;  but  an 
unhappy  incident  meanwhile  threatened  to  mar  the 
good  effects  of  his  apostolic  work.  Casimir  invaded 
Prussia,  and  made  war  on  the  Teutonic  knights. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  discuss  the 
claims  of  the  contending  parties.  That  which  most 
of  all  pained  Capistran  was  the  lamentable  folly  of 
Christian  princes  warring  with  each  other  at  a  time 
when  all  Europe  was  in  peril  of  being  subjected  to 
the  yoke  of  the  infidel.  Constantinople  had  fallen 
less  than  a  year  before,  and  no  man  could  foretell 
how  far-reaching  might  be  the  consequences  of 
that  calamity. 

His  duty  was  plain  and  he  did  it  fearlessly.  "  It 
is  not  the  part,"  he  wrote  to  the  king,  "  of  a  faith- 
ful servant,  nor  of  a  loving  friend,  to  withhold  good 
advice  from  king  or  prince.  So  then  will  I,  your 
Majesty's  most  faithful  follower,  refrain  not  from 
giving  wholesome  and  salutary  counsel  .  .  .  ." 
He  then  exhorted  him  to  withdraw  from  a  project 
inspired  only  by  greed  of  glory — a  thing  which  God 
disposes  as  he  wills — and  to  turn  his  energies  to 

1  Cf.  Ap.  Boll.  X  Oct.  345-6, 


68  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

the  overthrow  of  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith. 
This  was  in  April,  1454.1 

Notwithstanding  this,  there  were  men,  envious, 
no  doubt,  of  Capistran's  prestige  with  the  king,  and 
influential  enough  to  circulate  a  widespread  report 
that  it  was  he  who  had  urged  on  the  war  at  this 
most  inopportune  moment.  So  persistent  was  this 
rumour  that  he  found  it  necessary  even  to  write  to 
the  Pope  to  clear  himself  of  the  calumny.  In  this 
letter  he  declared  that  the  truth  was  quite  contrary 
to  these  statements,  for  in  the  presence  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Cracow,  two  Archbishops,  two  Bishops, 
and  other  counsellors  of  the  king,  he  had  advised 
the  latter  to  leave  the  whole  question  to  the  judg- 
ment of  His  Holiness,  and  the  king  had  promised 
to  do  so.'2 

Details  were  added  to  this  story,  so  fantastic  and 
improbable  that  we  should  scarcely  credit  their 
utterance  but  for  a  letter  that  Capistran  wrote  at 
this  time  to  the  Archbishop  of  Maintz.  He  said 
that  the  rumour  had  gone  abroad,  and  had  been 
heeded  by  several  princes,  that  he  had  been  sus- 
pended and  imprisoned  by  the  Archbishop  for  in- 
citing Casimir  to  this  war.  He  added  that  he  had 
been  easily  able  to  dispose  of  this  slander  in  his 
own  neighbourhood,  but  asked  the  Archbishop  also 
to  contradict  it  whenever  it  came  to  his  notice. 

About  this  time  Cardinal  Nicholas  Cusa,  the 
Papal  Legate,  wrote  to  Capistran.  It  is  evident 
from  the  letter  that  he  was  fully  cognizant  of  the 

1  Letter  ap.  Wadd.  XII,  196.  »  Ibid.  197. 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  69 

facts  and  of  the  false  charges ;  yet  he  begs  him  to 
come  to  Ratisbon  and  aid  in  counselling  peace,  and 
addresses  him  in  terms  of  such  esteem  and  confi- 
dence as  entirely  to  disprove  the  accusations  made 
against  him. 

Cardinal  Zbigniew  of  Cracow  likewise  wrote  him 
a  long  and  detailed  letter  upon  the  progress  of  the 
war  in  Prussia,  and  upon  the  need  of  co-operation 
against  the  Turks,  such  as  no  man  in  his  position 
and  with  his  intimate  knowledge  could  write  to  one 
who  had  been  a  false  friend  to  the  king. 

But  all  this  was  a  small  and  passing  episode  in 
the  accomplishment  of  the  last  great  task  of  Capis- 
tran's  career,  the  one  that  was  to  wear  out  his 
strength  in  labour  and  to  close  his  mortal  life,  but 
was  likewise  to  win  for  him  a  claim  upon  the  un- 
dying gratitude  of  Christian  Europe. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM. 

The  last  years  of  Capistran's  life  were  those  which 
embraced  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  Europe  more 
threatening  than  any  that  had  occurred  since  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  conse- 
quent adjustment  of  the  nations.  Islam  had  indeed 
long  ruled  part  of  Spain ;  but  it  had  been  kept 
within  bounds,  and,  even  now,  its  strength  was 
failing.  The  same  power  held  sway  over  most  of 
nearer  Asia  and  Africa ;  yet,  in  the  ages  of  the 
6 


H    thft 


70  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

Crusades,  it  had  never  seriously  threatened  the 
security  of  Europe.  But  a  new  and  more  warlike 
race  had  arisen  out  of  the  Moslem  hordes,  and, 
during  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  had  grown  strong, 
and  had  passed  from  conquest  to  conquest  till 
now  it  threatened  the  very  existence  of  Christian 
Europe. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  a 
small  Turkish  tribe  was  driven  by  the  Mongols  from 
its  home  in  Central  Asia,  and,  passing  through 
Persia  and  Armenia,  settled  down  on  the  Byzantine 
frontier.  From  Osman,  their  third  prince  after  the 
migration,  these  men  received  the  name  of  "  Os- 
manli " — corrupted  by  Europeans  into  "  Ottoman  ". 

Fierce,  restless,  and  uncivilized,  they  procured  the 
necessities  of  life  by  war  and  pillage ;  neither  did 
they  lose  their  distinctive  character  by  becoming 
merged  in  the  Seljukian  Turkish  Empire.  On  the 
contrary,  when,  in  1300,  that  power  fell  to  pieces 
under  the  onslaughts  of  the  Mongols,  and  out  of  its 
ruins  ten  separate  dynasties  arose,  this  youthful 
race  soon  gained  an  ascendancy  over  them  all,  and 
that  to  such  an  extent  as  at  once  to  absorb  them 
into  itself,  and  impart  to  them  a  new  vigour  out  of 
its  own  exuberant  and  indomitable  energy. 

Thus  the  Ottoman  Empire  came  into  being,  and 
opened  a  career  of  conquest  so  rapid  and  wide- 
spread as  to  strike  terror  into  the  older  nations, 
Nicomedia,  Nicsea  with  many  other  towns,  Bithynia 
and  the  Asiatic  principality  of  the  Byzantines,  soon 
passed  into  their  hands. 

Under  the   rule   of  Amurat,    or  Murad  I,    the 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  71 

third  Sultan  (1360-1389),  they  crossed  the  Helles- 
pont, and  invaded  Europe.  Nearly  all  Roumelia 
was  annexed ;  and,  though  the  princes  of  Bosnia, 
Bulgaria,  and  Servia  combined  to  check  the  growing 
Moslem  power,  their  resistance  was  worn  down ; 
little  by  little  they  were  compelled  to  give  way,  till 
the  disastrous  defeat  of  Kossovo  (1389)  left  them 
discomfited  and  crushed. 

Murad,  indeed,  was  slain,  by  a  wounded  Christian 
it  is  said,  as  he  rode  over  the  field  in  the  joy  of 
victory.  But  his  death  brought  no  respite  to  the 
Christians,  for  his  successor  was  the  terrible  Bajezet 
I,  called  also  Yilderim — or  "  Lightning  " — from 
the  irresistible  speed  of  his  conquests.  He  com- 
pleted the  subjugation  of  Roumelia,  extended  his 
empire  in  Asia,  and  returned  thence,  in  1396,  to 
inflict  an  overwhelming  defeat  upon  the  Christian 
armies  which  had  assembled  in  his  absence  to  be- 
siege Nicopolis. 

War  with  Timur,  the  Tartar  conqueror,  who 
gained  a  great  victory  in  1402,  and  internal  strife, 
arrested  for  a  while  the  expansion  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire.  During  the  reign  of  Murad  II  (142 1- 
145 1)  the  Christians,  especially  under  Hunyady, 
were  successful  in  several  battles,  and  gradually  re- 
covered a  considerable  part  of  their  lost  territory ; 
but  the  fruit  of  this  protracted  strife  was  lost  again 
at  the  battle  of  Varna  (1444) — a  defeat  more  com- 
plete and  more  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  Christendom 
than  Kossovo  or  Nicopolis. 

Almost  all  South-Eastern  Europe  beyond  the 
Balkans  was  now  subject  to  the  Turk,  who  ruled 
6* 


72  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

at  Adrianople.  The  remaining  fragment  of 
once  mighty  Byzantine  Empire  was  restricted  to 
the  precincts  of  Constantinople,  and  the  hopes 
and  fears  of  Christendom  were  bound  up  in  the 
fate  of  that  stronghold.  For  a  few  years  longer 
it  remained  a  relic  of  a  glorious  past.  Murad 
seemed  satisfied  with  his  triumph  at  Varna.  He 
was  a  man  of  little  ambition ;  his  sultanship, 
even,  was  distasteful  to  him,  and  twice  he  abdi- 
cated it. 

His  son,  Mohammed  II,  who  succeeded  in  145 1, 
was  far  more  energetic  and  warlike.  Gathering 
together  an  immense  army,  he  set  himself  to  re- 
alize the  long-cherished  dream  of  his  ancestors — to 
make  Constantinople  the  capital  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

The  siege  was  heroically  sustained  by  the  Greeks 
under  the  Emperor,  Constantine  Palaeologos.  The 
city,  with  its  mighty  fortifications,  seemed  im- 
pregnable from  the  landward  side.  Facing  the 
Golden  Horn  the  defences  were  weaker,  but  the 
Greeks,  knowing  this,  had  made  the  approach  im- 
possible for  ships  by  means  of  a  great  boom.  The 
Turks,  however,  constructed  a  road  of  planks  for 
a  distance  of  five  miles,  from  the  Bosphorus,  where 
their  vessels  lay,  to  the  upper  part  of  the  Golden 
Horn.  Along  this  they  dragged  their  ships, 
launched  them  afresh,  and  so  were  able  to  bom- 
bard the  city  on  its  weakest  side.  On  29  May, 
1453,  the  final  assault  was  made.  Constantine 
died,  fighting  bravely  to  the  last.  The  Turks 
entered  in  triumph.     The  Byzantine  Empire,  after 


. 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  73 

an  existence  of  more  than  a  thousand  years,  was 
at  an  end. 

The  key  of  Europe  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
Turks;  the  chief  obstacle  to  their  progress  had 
been  removed.  But  the  moral  effect  of  this  victory 
both  in  encouraging  them  and  filling  the  nations  of 
Europe  with  consternation  at  a  catastrophe  they 
had  persuaded  themselves  could  never  be,  was 
a  factor  still  more  favourable  to  the  project  of  an 
Ottoman  Empire  over  the  whole  Continent.  Mo- 
hammed understood  this  quite  well.  With  as 
little  delay  as  possible  after  the  great  victory,  he 
had  his  armies  again  in  the  field.  Servia  and 
Bosnia,  which  had  recovered  some  measure  of 
liberty,  were  overrun  by  the  victorious  troops,  and 
their  hopes  of  independence  were  completely 
crushed.  Trebizond  was  then  conquered  and  an- 
nexed, together  with  several  islands  of  the  Greek 
Archipelago  which  had  belonged  to  the  Venetians 
and  Genoese. 

Never  since  the  invasions  of  Huns  and  Goths 
had  Christendom  been  in  such  peril;  and  never 
were  Christian  princes  more  supine  and  inert  in 
time  of  danger.  Only  the  rulers  of  the  Church 
seemed  to  realize  the  gravity  of  the  crisis.  A  diet 
was  held  at  Ratisbon  to  consider  means  of  resist- 
ance, but  it  was  scantily  attended,  and  arrived  at 
no  definite  conclusions.  Another  met  at  Frankfort 
on  29  September  of  the  same  year,  and  again  noth- 
ing was  agreed  upon,  except  that  a  further  meet- 
ing should  be  convened  at  Neustadt  in  the  following 
February — this  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  zeal  of 


74  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

JEnesiS  Sylvius,  acting  for  the  Pope,  and  the  elo- 
quent pleading  of  Capistran,  who  attended  both 
assemblies. 

To  a  man  of  Capistran's  foresight  and  energy, 
such  reckless  folly  was  deplorable.  Princes  and 
kings  were  inviting  him  to  preach  in  their  countries 
— England,  Scotland,  Burgundy,  Savoy,  and  Hun- 
gary, among  others — but  to  these  letters  his  invari- 
able reply  was  to  urge  the  rulers  to  prompt  action 
in  repelling  the  Turkish  invasion. 

In  a  letter  to  Henry  VI  of  England,1  he  gives 
as  his  reason  for  declining  an  invitation,  otherwise 
most  acceptable,  his  own  duty  of  labouring  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Turkish  power,  and  the  defence  of 
the  faith.  Then,  after  consoling  the  king,  and  en- 
couraging him  to  patience  in  his  bodily  afflictions, 
he  commends  his  proposal  to  found  friaries  for  the 
Franciscans  of  the  Observance  in  England,  and 
proceeds :  "  O  King,  give  heed,  I  pray  you.  This 
is  a  time  of  crisis.  The  Christian  faith  is  assailed 
by  impious  foes,  and  Christian  blood  is  copiously 
shed,  and  will,  we  fear,  be  shed  yet  more  and  more. 
If  help  be  not  speedily  forthcoming,  the  enemy  will 
vanquish  us  all.  I  pray  you,  therefore,  and,  by 
the  Blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  beseech  that 
you  will  lend  your  powerful  aid.  Join  with  the 
other  princes  who  have  been  moved  to  take  action, 
and  of  whom  many  have  promised  to  go  in  person 
with  their  forces.2     Your  majesty  has  generals  who 

lAp.  Wadd.  XII,  210. 

2  Such  promises  had  been  made  but  were  never  carried 
into  effect, 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  75 

are  excellently  qualified  for  such  an  expedition, 
likewise  the  bravest  and  most  robust  of  men.  With 
such  a  host,  and  your  abundant  wealth,  your  high- 
ness could  with  God's  help,  and  if  you  were  so 
minded,  yourself  crush  this  ferocious  Mohammed. 
Set  yourself,  then,  mighty  ruler,  with  brave  heart 
to  this  task  ;  and  in  this  manner  show  your  courage, 
your  religion,  your  zeal  for  the  faith,  your  love  of 
God.  Thus  will  all  the  world  behold  in  you  a  truly 
Christian  king,  sparing  not  your  gold  nor  life  itself 
in  the  defence  of  the  Christian  faith." 

This  letter  was  written  from  Frankfort,  before 
the  close  of  the  diet ;  but  no  help  was  forthcoming 
from  the  English.  Like  the  other  nations  they 
had  their  own  interests  and  quarrels  which  engaged 
all  their  energies.1  Philip  Duke  of  Burgundy  was 
the  only  one  who  gave  anything  more  than  a  half- 
hearted support  to  the  Christian  cause.  He  was 
not  present  at  the  diet,  but  sent  envoys  and  money, 
enlisted  troops,  and  made  active  preparations  to 
take  part  in  the  expedition.  Capistran  wrote  him 
two  letters,  congratulating  him  on  his  generosity, 
and  contrasting  it  with  the  inactivity  of  the  rest. 

From  Frankfort,  Capistran  wrote  also  to  the  Pope 
on  28  October.2  He  told  how  he  had  come  to 
the  diet  and  had  found  ^Eneas  Sylvius  labouring 
most  energetically  to  awaken  in  the  princes  a  real 
and  practical  interest  in  the  projected  war;  how 
he  himself  had  striven  day  by  day,  in  public  and 

1  England  was  at  war  with  France,  and  the  civil  discord 
that  led  to  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  had  already  commenced. 
*Ap.  Wadd.  XII,  203. 


76  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

in  private  discourse  to  second  these  efforts ;  how 
trivial  pretexts  had  been  seized  upon  as  excuses — 
such  as  the  fact  that  the  Pope  had  sent  as  his  repre- 
sentative a  Bishop1  who  was  not  a  Cardinal — 
and  how,  at  length  they  had  accepted  from  him 
copies  of  the  papal  bull  of  the  Crusade.  "  I  do 
not  tell  all  this,  Holy  Father,"  he  proceeds,  "to 
show  that  I  have  done  anything  important,  for  I 
am  of  no  account;  but,  that  your  Holiness  may 
know  my  unswerving  fidelity  to  you,  and  may  be 
assured  that  I  have  set  aside  all  other  considera- 
tions so  as  to  labour,  feeble  though  I  be,  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  the  faith. 
And,  truly,  Holy  Father,  all  other  things  must  be 
ignored,  and  all  our  energies  directed  against  this 
mighty  foe  that  has  sworn  utterly  to  efface  the 
Christian  name ;  for,  although  many  believe  that 
great  things  have  been  accomplished  in  this  diet, 
to  me  it  seems  that  nothing,  or  almost  nothing, 
has  been  done." 

^Eneas  Sylvius  and  St.  John  Capistran  strove 
resolutely  to  secure  that  the  diet  of  Neustadt  should 
be  more  successful  than  those  of  Ratisbon  and 
Frankfort.  They  had,  indeed,  done  all  in  their 
power  on  the  previous  occasions,  and  now  they 
thoroughly  realized  that  the  princes  were  indifferent 
and  unreliable.  Their  sense  of  the  difficulties  they 
had  to  contend  with,  and  their  determination  not 
to  lose  heart  in  spite  of  the  apparent  hopelessness 
of  their  task,  are  both  evident  from  letters 2  that 

1  iEneas  Sylvius,  Bishop  of  Siena. 
2 4/-.  Wadd.  XII,  239  *eq. 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  77 

passed  between  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1455,  Just  before  the  time  appointed  for  the  diet. 
/Eneas  Sylvius  was  already  at  Neustadt,  and  Cap- 
istran  was  at  Vienna,  not  far  away — waiting  at  the 
capital  so  as  to  be  able  more  easily  to  communicate 
with  the  different  rulers. 

Sylvius  wrote  that  he  did  not  know  when  the 
Emperor  would  come,  though  it  was  he  that  had 
convoked  the  diet.  In  any  case  he  did  not  expect 
him  before  the  middle  of  Lent.  Albert,  Marquis 
of  Brandenburg,  the  most  zealous  of  all,  was  ill  at 
Breslau.  Nothing  was  known  as  to  the  arrival  of 
the  governor  of  Bohemia.  Nothing  had  been 
heard  from  Italy.  He  feared  that  the  matter  was 
being  treated  with  general  negligence. 

Capistran  replied  that  Ladislaus  of  Hungary  had 
arrived  at  Vienna  with  Podiebrad,  governor  of  Bo- 
hemia, and  several  barons.  Others  were  expected, 
but  it  was  not  known  when  they  would  arrive. 
Podiebrad  and  his  party  were,  however,  willing  to 
give  their  services  only  at  a  price,  which  was  that 
the  Emperor  should  write  to  the  Pope,  urging  him 
to  accept  the  heretical  tenets  of  Rokyzana.  This 
roused  the  anger  of  Capistran.  M  You/'  he  wrote, 
"with  your  good  sense  and  fairness,  can  judge 
how  justly,  honourably,  nobly,  and  piously  they 
intend  to  proceed.  What,  think  you,  can  Catholic 
faith  have  to  do  with  such  bargaining  ?  I  will  not 
bear  such  an  indignity  calmly  and  in  silence." 

In  the  course  of  a  long  letter  Sylvius  said  he 

feared  nothing  would  come  of  all  their  efforts  at 

kfort.      Many   princes   would,   indeed,  conn 


olcrk 


78  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

from  Germany,  Bohemia,  and  Hungary,  some  also 
from  Italy  and  France ;  but  all  needed  to  be 
roused,  urged,  and  inflamed  to  take  action,  for  of 
themselves  they  gave  heed  to  nothing  but  their 
personal  gratification.  He  confided  in  Capistran 
to  combat  and  conquer  their  sloth,  their  pride,  and 
their  avarice ;  for  these,  he  said,  were  the  three 
fatal  pests  that  put  our  religion  in  peril  of  the  Turk. 
But  if  they  would  be  energetic,  humble,  and  gener- 
ous, they  could  bring  together  a  host  that  would 
be  able  to  vanquish,  not  only  the  Turks,  but  all 
the  infidels. 

At  length  the  diet  assembled,  and  it  really  seemed 
that  some  definite  steps  would  be  taken.  Capis- 
tran's  words  of  warning  and  exhortation  had  brought 
the  princes  to  some  sense  of  their  duties,  and 
promises  of  co-operation  were  being  given  from  all 
quarters,  when  news  arrived  of  the  death  of  Nicholas 
V.  This  was  readily  accepted  as  a  reason  for  dis- 
solving the  diet,  leaving  the  whole  question  as  open 
and  undecided  as  before,  and  fixing  the  feast  of 
the  Ascension  in  the  following  year  as  the  date  of 
the  next  assembly. 

There  could  no  longer  be  any  reasonable  hope 
of  an  effective  confederation  of  the  rulers  of  Europe. 
Now  that  the  Turks  were  already  menacing  their 
country,  it  would  be  useless  for  the  Hungarians  to 
let  more  than  a  year  pass  by,  trusting  that  then  a 
European  diet  would  accomplish  more  than  the 
three  preceding  ones  had  done.  Their  leaders, 
apparently,  realized  at  last  that  they  must  rely  upon 
their  national  resources,  if  they  hoped  to  save  their 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  79 

native  land  from  conquest  by  the  infidel,  and  make 
it  the  bulwark  of  Christendom. 

In  this  extremity  of  their  fortunes,  they  could 
think  of  only  one  man  capable  of  enrolling,  out  of 
the  undisciplined  men  of  their  various  tribes,  an 
effective  army,  numerous  and  enthusiastic  enough 
to  achieve  the  all  but  hopeless  task  that  was  before 
them.  This  was  St.  John  Capistran.  Letters  were 
sent  to  him  by  King  Ladislaus,  Hunyady,  George, 
despot  of  Rhetia ;  Denis,  the  Cardinal  Archbishop 
of  Esztergom,  and  several  other  nobles  asking  his 
help. 

It  was  impossible  to  refuse  such  an  appeal ;  but, 
before  complying  with  their  request,  he  wrote  to 
the  Pope  describing  the  deplorable  condition  of 
the  countries  already  overrun  by  the  Turks,  and 
pointing  out  the  danger  that  threatened  Europe, 
and  Hungary  in  particular.  He  implored  him  to 
do  all  in  his  power  to  obtain  assistance  from  the 
other  kingdoms ;  and  then  told  him  of  the  request 
just  made  to  himself,  adding  that  he  proposed  setting 
out  for  Buda  in  such  time  as  to  be  there  by  Pente- 
cost, unless  he  received,  meanwhile,  contrary  in- 
structions from  His  Holiness. 

Callixtus  III  was  most  anxious  to  do  all  that 
was  possible  for  the  defence  of  Christendom.  One 
of  his  first  acts  after  his  election  had  been  to  bind 
himself  by  oath  that  he  would  use  all  diligence 
and  give  every  aid — even  to  the  shedding  of  blood, 
if  that  should  be  necessary — for  the  recovery  of 
Constantinople,  for  the  liberation  of  Christian  cap- 
l,  and  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Turks  in  Eastern 


80  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

Europe.  Within  the  first  few  days  he  had  sent 
Cardinals  as  Legates  to  the  different  courts  of 
Europe  to  promote  the  Crusade,  and  had  begun 
to  fit  out  a  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  so  that 
the  war  might  be  conducted  by  sea  as  well  as  by 
land.  He  still  retained  a  mistaken  confidence  in 
the  chivalry  of  the  rulers  of  Europe.  Hence,  in 
his  reply,  while  approving  Capistran's  resolution, 
and  commanding  him  to  carry  it  out  as  energetically 
as  possible,  he,  nevertheless,  expressed  a  firm  hope 
that  aid  would  be  forthcoming  from  the  other 
Christian  princes. 

By  the  time  this  answer  reached  him,  Capistran 
was  already  in  Hungary ;  for  further  letters  had 
been  written  and  envoys  sent,  urging  him  to  come 
without  delay. 

The  fact  that  this  was  to  be  his  mission,  and 
that  it  would  cost  his  life,  had  been  made  known 
to  him  by  supernatural  revelation,  according  to 
John  Tagliocozzo,  his  secretary,  in  the  previous 
November,  just  after  the  diet  of  Frankfort.  One 
day,  when  he  was  at  Nuremberg,  he  was  in  great 
anxiety  of  mind  as  to  what  God  willed  him  to  do 
for  the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith.  No 
delight  would  have  been  greater  than  to  give  his 
life  in  its  defence.  During  the  night  he  prayed 
long  and  earnestly  for  the  divine  guidance;  and 
then,  as  he  slept  a  little  after  matins,  it  was  made 
known  to  him  that  he  was  to  die,  not  by  shedding 
his  blood,  but  by  labour  as  painful  as  blood- 
shedding.  On  the  morrow,  as  he  celebrated 
Mass,  he  heard  voices  continually  repeating  :  "  To 


sent 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  81 

Hungary  !  to  Hungary  !  "  and  again,  as  he  preached 
in  the  square  before  the  church,  he  heard  the  same 
voices  in  the  air,  crying  :  "To  Hungary  !  " 

Before  his  departure  from  Austria,  he  had  paid 
a  last  visit  to  his  brethren  in  Vienna,  at  the  friary 
of  SS.  Theobald  and  Bernardine  which  he  had 
himself  founded.  After  matins  he  began  to  dis- 
course to  them  on  the  text  of  St.  Paul  (Heb.  xii.  7.) 
"  Persevere  under  discipline,"  exhorting  them  to 
the  observance  of  their  profession  and  rule.  Morn- 
ing dawned  before  he  had  ceased  speaking.  Like 
St.  Paul  at  Miletus,  he  knew  that  they  would  see 
him  no  more  ;  and  like  him,  he  gave  them  warning. 
"  I  know  that  after  my  death  some  men  will  come 
to  you,  bringing  new  doctrines,  new  constitutions, 
new  ceremonies.  Do  not  believe  them."  And  he 
added  :  "  If  an  angel  from  heaven  should  so  come, 
let  him  be  anathema  ".  Then,  kneeling,  he  kissed 
the  feet  of  all,  and  so  departed.1 

Tagliocozzo  tells  of  his  preaching  in  Hungary. 
Wherever  he  went,  although  he  would  often  change 
his  plans  at  the  last  moment  so  as  to  avoid  the 
honours  prepared  for  him,  it  seemed  as  though 
God  made  known  what  he  strove  to  conceal ;  for 
he  was  always  met  by  solemn  processions  in  which, 
besides  the  ordinary  clergy  in  their  sacred  vest- 
ments, Abbots,  Bishops,  and  Cardinals  did  not  dis- 
dain to  take  part.  Often  the  relics  of  the  Saints 
and  even  the  Blessed  Sacrament  were  carried  in 
these  processions,  escorted    by  throngs  of  people 

1  Christopher  of  Varese  XII. 


82  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

carrying  candles  on  branches  of  trees,  while  they 
sang  hymns  and  the  bells  rang  peals  of  joy.  Princes 
and  barons  mingled  with  the  common  people,  as- 
sembled to  hear  his  sermons ;  and  these  were 
always  preached  in  the  open  air,  for  no  building 
could  contain  the  vast  audiences  that  came  to- 
gether from  near  and  far.  As  in  Germany  and 
Poland,  so,  here  in.  Hungary,  miraculous  cures  gave 
testimony  to  the  divine  grace  working  in  him,  and 
excited  among  the  people  such  an  enthusiasm  of 
admiration,  love,  and  confidence  in  the  Saint,  as  to 
make  them  ready  to  follow  him  wherever  he  might 
lead,  and  do  and  dare  even  what  seemed  impos- 
sible at  his  command. 

He  vigorously  attacked  the  vices  of  the  people, 
inflamed  them  with  love  of  God,  and  showed  them 
how  to  practise  the  virtues  of  a  true  Christian  life ; 
for  he  would  have  their  fidelity  and  courage  in  the 
holy  war  to  be  based  on  the  most  sure  of  all  foun- 
dations— the  will  to  fight  in  the  cause  of  their  God, 
and  to  die,  if  need  be,  gladly,  for  His  sake. 

In  this  manner  he  traversed  all  Hungary,  draw- 
ing men  to  follow  him,  not  Catholics  alone  but 
heretics  and  schismatics,  eleven  thousand  of  whom 
abandoned  their  errors  and  made  their  submission 
to  the  Holy  See.1 

This  preaching  occupied  the  time  until  he  and 
Cardinal  John  Carvajal,  the  Papal  Legate,  suc- 
ceeded in  convening  an  effective  council  of  war  at 
Buda  early  in  1456. 

1  Tagliocozzo. 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  83 

The  long  delay  is  explained  by  the  fact,  almost 
incredible  in  such  circumstances,  that  the  different 
governors  of  the  kingdom,  through  jealousy  or  in- 
activity, could  not  easily  be  brought  to  take  vigor- 
ous and  concerted  action.  Worst  of  all  the  young 
King  Ladislaus,  always  a  weak  and  vacillating  ruler, 
retired  altogether  from  the  contest  and  left  the 
country  on  the  pretext  of  hunting.  The  Bo- 
hemians, incited  by  Podiebrad  and  Rokyzana, 
aroused  discord  on  religious  grounds.  Councils 
had  been  held  at  Gyor  and  Buda,  but  had  formed 
no  definite  plans.  The  Bishops  only,  as  a  body, 
had  given  loyal  support  to  the  Legate  and 
Capistran. 

But  the  people  were  by  this  time  thoroughly 
roused,  and  the  jealousies  and  interests  of  indi- 
vidual rulers  could  no  longer  stem  the  tide  of 
popular  enthusiasm.  In  December,  1455,  the 
Legate  recalled  Capistran  to  Buda;  there,  soon 
afterwards,  the  council  of  the  kingdom  set  them- 
selves to  form  an  army,  and  appointed  John  Cor- 
vinus  Hunyady  Commander-in-Chief. 

This  great  Christian  hero  had  spent  nearly  all  his 
life  fighting  against  the  Turks.  He  had  been  re- 
warded by  promotion  to  various  posts  of  honour, 
being  made  regent  of  Hungary  during  the  minority 
of  Ladislaus.  At  this  time  he  was  governor  of 
Transylvania,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  welcome 
Capistran  on  his  arrival  into  the  kingdom.  He 
had  assisted  at  the  earlier  councils  of  war  and  had 
promised  to  provide  ten  thousand  cavalry  at  his 
own  expense.     Disgusted  at   the  discord  among 


84  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

the  other  nobles,  and  exasperated  at  their  intrigues 
against  himself,  he  had  retired  for  a  while  into 
private  life.  But  his  spirit  was  too  noble  to  remain 
long  inactive  at  a  time  when  his  country  was  in 
peril.  For  the  sake  of  Christendom  he  became 
reconciled  with  his  enemies  and  accepted  the  hon- 
ourable post  of  danger. 

In  an  assembly  of  the  council,  held  on  14 
February,  Capistran  was  presented  by  the  Cardinal 
Legate  with  the  cross  which  the  Pope  had  sent, 
and  was  commissioned  to  bestow  a  similar  cross  on 
all  who  would  join  the  Crusade.  Writing  to  the 
Pope  on  24  March,  he  said  :  "  Many  of  the 
prelates  and  barons  have  received  the  cross,  and 
a  multitude  of  people.  Every  day  we  are  giving 
more.  I,  myself,  received,  from  the  hands  of  the 
Cardinal  Legate,  the  cross  blessed  by  your  Holiness ; 
and  now  that  I  have  received  it,  I  shall  wear  it 
always,  even  to  shedding  my  blood,  if  need  be,  a 
hundred  times  a  day  in  its  defence."  x 

During  the  next  few  months,  Hunyady  and  Ca- 
pistran were  busily  occupied  in  enlisting  troops. 
The  former,  as  a  famous  general  and  a  governor  of 
the  state,  had  better  opportunities  of  procuring 
trained  soldiers.  Capistran  went  into  the  different 
provinces  enlisting  all  who  offered  themselves, 
young  and  old,  provided  they  seemed  at  all  able  to 
bear  the  fatigues  of  the  campaign.  To  all  of  them 
he  gave  the  cross,  and  promised  victory  for  the 
Christian  arms.     Soon  he  had  a  following  of  many 

M/>.  Wadd.  XII,  323. 


n 


DEFENCE  OF  CHRISTENDOM.  85 

thousands,  for  the  greater  part  inexperienced  and 
indifferently  armed  men — clerics,  students,  artizans, 
and  peasants,  many  of  them  members  of  the  Third 
Order — a  poor  army  as  men  estimate  military 
strength,  and  unfit  to  be  led  against  the  mighty 
forces  of  the  infidel. 

This  idea  would  seem  to  have  been  in  the  mind 
of  the  Cardinal  Legate,  for  he  wrote  early  in  June 
just  at  the  time  when  Capistran's  organization  was 
almost  complete,  asking  him  to  go  to  Vienna  and 
seek  help  from  the  Emperor.1  But  Capistran  had 
learned  by  long  and  bitter  experience  that  no  help 
was  to  be  expected  from  without,  besides  which  to 
go  away  now  would  be  the  undoing  of  all  his 
labours.  He  had  the  fullest  confidence  that  God 
would  conquer  the  infidel  by  means  of  the  despised 
crusaders.  Hunyady,  too,  strongly  opposed  this 
step,  for  he  had  learned  to  confide  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  man  of  God  as  well  as  to  admire  his 
courage.  In  addition,  he  had  just  received  a 
letter  from  the  Pope,  full  of  encouragement,  ex- 
horting him  to  proceed  as  he  had  begun  in  or- 
ganizing the  Crusade,  and  expressing  unqualified 
approval  of  his  plans.  More  than  this,  grave  news 
had  arrived  concerning  the  enemy's  approach. 
They  had  by  this  time  completed  the  reduction  of 
the  provinces  that  had  revolted  against  their  rule, 
and  were  making  immediate  preparations  for  the 
invasion  of  Hungary.  Heavy  artillery  had  been 
and  was  now  being  transported.      The  army 

*Af.  Wadd.  XII.  331. 

7 


n 


86  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

had  been  strongly  reinforced  and  was  now  advanc 
ing  in  the  direction  of  Belgrade  under  the  command 
of  the  emperor,  Mohammed  II,  in  person. 

The  time  for  immediate  action  had  arrived. 
Belgrade  was  to  be  the  battle-ground.  There  must 
the  foe  be  met,  and,  with  God's  help,  conquered, 
if  Europe  were  to  be  preserved. 

Those  who  had  hitherto  regarded  Capistran 
merely  as  an  enthusiast,  and  even  those  who 
admired  his  sanctity,  must  have  been  astonished 
at  the  practical  ability  he  showed  in  conducting 
this  expedition.  It  is  true  he  had  one  great  ad- 
vantage in  the  fact  that  his  troops  revered  him 
as  a  Saint,  and  were  eager  to  hear  and  obey  his 
slightest  commands ;  but  to  organize  such  a  multi- 
tude into  even  the  semblance  of  a  disciplined  army, 
to  provision  them  and  transport  them,  some  by 
land,  some  in  ships  along  the  Danube,  to  Belgrade, 
called  for  powers  of  generalship  of  no  mean  order. 
All  this,  however,  the  holy  friar  accomplished,  and 
entered  the  city  with  his  forces  on  2  July,  1456. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE. 

The  city  of  Belgrade,  owing  to  its  situation  between 
the  Danube  and  the  Save,  at  the  confluence  of 
these  two  rivers,  and,  being  at  that  time  the  southern 
outpost  of  Hungary,  was  a  place  of  great  strategic 
importance  and  the  natural  gateway  to  the  kingdom. 


<  >ll\    <    U>1S  I  KAN. 

'  Irom  a  Portrait  by  A.  Kiralz,  tOOj-tyjJ,  (tainted  for  the  Ckapel  of  the 
Saint  in  the  Cordelier  Church,  Toulouse,  now  in  the  Museum.) 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  87 

In  addition  to  these  advantages  it  was  very  strongly 
fortified,  so  that,  while  it  was  a  formidable  menace 
to  an  invader,  its  occupation  by  an  enemy  would 
be  a  fatal  blow  to  the  security  of  the  country.  After 
Constantinople,  nothing  was  more  desirable  in  the 
estimation  of  Mohammed  than  the  possession  of 
this  stronghold.  It  would  open  a  way  for  his  forces, 
not  into  northern  Europe  merely,  but  towards  Italy 
as  well. 

If  this  fact  was  unperceived  or  ignored  by  the 
secular  rulers  of  Europe,  the  Pope  saw  and  appreci- 
ated it  fully.  He  issued  a  bull  on  29  June,  ad- 
dressed to  all  ecclesiastics  throughout  the  Christian 
world,  in  which  he  commanded  them  to  teach  the 
people  to  amend  their  vicious  ways,  for  these  had 
brought  the  scourge  upon  them,  and  to  betake 
themselves  to  prayer.  In  particular,  he  ordered 
all  priests  in  their  Masses  to  insert  a  collect  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  infidels.  Lastly,  to  the  end  that 
all  might  be  kept  in  mind  of  this  duty  of  prayer, 
and  of  the  indulgences  granted  to  those  who  fulfilled 
it,  he  ordained  that  a  bell  should  be  rung  daily  at 
every  church,  half  an  hour  before  vespers,  three 
times,  that  is,  after  the  manner  of  the  "  Angelus  M.1 

It  was  indeed  a  time  when  hope  could  be  placed 
in  the  Divine  aid  alone.  The  garrison  of  Belgrade, 
even  with  its  new  reinforcements,  was  small  when 
compared  with  the  host  of  its  besiegers,  and  its 
guns  were  of  inferior  calibre  to  the  enormous  can- 
nons the  Turks  had    prepared   expressly   for   this 

1  Af>.  Boil.  X  Oct.  p.  362. 
7* 


. 


88  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

contest.  In  the  event,  itself  improbable,  of  their 
success  in  repelling  all  assaults,  there  still  remained 
every  prospect  of  their  being  forced  to  surrender 
before  the  slower  stress  of  starvation. 

The  Crusaders  had  reached  the  city  only  just  in 
time  to  effect  an  entrance.  Some  of  the  foremost 
Turkish  galleys  were  already  on  the  Danube  near 
the  fortress ;  but  Capistran  was  successful  in  bring- 
ing into  the  city  the  Crusaders  who  had  travelled 
by  water,  as  well  as  those  who  had  marched  over- 
land. 

On  the  following  day,  3  July,  the  first  part  of 
the  Turkish  army,  which  numbered  altogether  from 
a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to  two  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  was  seen  before  the  city — all  trained 
men,  and  well  equipped  with  weapons  and  appli- 
ances needful  for  a  siege.  They  were  drawn  up 
on  the  further  bank  of  the  Save,  but  immediately 
commenced  operations  for  crossing  the  river  above 
the  city,  and  conveying  their  war  material  over  a 
bridge  of  rafts  or  pontoons. 

The  Christians  had  never  seen  such  formidable 
artillery.  The  guns  seemed  innumerable.  Among 
them  were  found,  after  the  siege,  twenty-two  of 
the  extraordinary  length,  for  that  time,  of  twenty- 
seven  feet,  besides  seven  huge  mortars  capable  of 
throwing  great  round  stones  high  into  the  air,  so 
as  to  fall  within  the  fortress.  In  addition,  there 
could  be  seen,  throughout  the  vast  expanse  of  the 
camp,  forges  and  furnaces  where  artificers  worked 
day  and  night,  and  long  lines  of  camels  bringing 
in  food,  fuel,  and  implements.     Their  supplies  and 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  89 

munitions  were  of  enormous  quantity,  portending 
that  preparations  had  been  made,  not  for  the  siege 
of  one  fortress  only,  but  for  the  conquest  of  all 
Hungary ;  and  this  omen  was  confirmed  by  certain 
Christian  fugitives  from  the  camp,  who  said  it  was 
commonly  reported  there,  that  the  emperor  had 
sworn  by  his  prophet,  to  be  lord  of  Hungary  and 
to  dine  at  Buda  within  a  month.  The  emperor's 
camp  was  on  a  hill,  surrounded  by  a  mound  and 
ditch,  and  round  about  it  were  the  tents  and 
standards  of  five  thousand  janissaries. 

On  the  two  rivers  were  sixty-four  large  galleys, 
carrying  guns,  and  manned  by  sailors  trained  in 
marine  warfare,  besides  a  great  number  of  smaller 
craft.  Within  a  few  days,  too,  their  troops  and 
earthworks  extended  from  river  to  river  above  the 
city,  closing  it  in  from  the  landward  side,  so  that 
no  supplies  could  now  come  in  by  water  or  by 
land. 

The  greater  number  of  the  Crusaders  had  never 
been  in  battle  before,  and  had  not  even  been  trained 
to  bear  arms.  There  was,  besides,  the  civilian 
population  who  had  learned  from  the  fate  of  other 
nations  to  regard  the  Turks  as  invincible.  It  is 
not,  then,  difficult  to  imagine  the  dread  with  which 
they  looked  out  upon  that  mighty  host. 

Meanwhile  Hunyady  had  not  arrived.  So  far  as 
can  be  gathered  from  the  different  narratives,  it 
would  seem  that  he  had  sent  forward  some  troops 
to  strengthen  the  garrison  and  had  appointed 
Michael  Sylagy  governor  of  the  fortress.  He  was 
smarting  under  new  injuries.     According  to  Taglio- 


go  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

cozzo,  he  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  king 
through  false  accusations,  and  was  angry  with  the 
barons,  who  all  stood  aloof  from  the  contest. 
Moreover,  he  had  no  great  confidence  in  Capistran's 
Crusaders  being  able  to  withstand  the  Turks. 

But  the  friar  commander,  though  confident  that 
God  would  give  victory  to  the  Christian  arms,  was 
yet  unwilling  to  tempt  providence  by  the  neglect 
of  such  human  means  as  were  available.  He  ad- 
mired the  heroism  of  Hunyady,  in  spite  of  his  way- 
wardness, and  knew  that  his  presence  would  give 
confidence  to  the  garrison.  More  troops,  too, 
were  urgently  needed.  Therefore  he  resolved  to 
leave  the  city  while  it  was  still  possible  to  do  so, 
and  to  persuade  Hunyady  to  take  command  in 
person. 

On  4  July,  after  Mass,  he  preached  a  stirring 
sermon  to  the  Crusaders,  exhorting  them  to  fight 
bravely,  and,  if  need  were,  die  as  martyrs  for  Christ's 
sake.  At  the  same  time,  he  promised  to  bring 
back  with  him  such  a  number  of  Crusaders  as 
would  astonish  the  Turks  themselves,  and  foretold 
their  ultimate  triumph. 

To  his  own  brethren  he  said  :  "  Hear  confessions, 
soothe  quarrels,  take  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded, 
bury  the  dead,  preach  fortitude  and  courage.  But 
those  of  you  who  are  priests,  beware  not  to  attack 
any  of  the  Turks,  nor  to  provide  or  fashion  stones, 
arrows,  or  other  arms  for  the  troops.  Your  weapons 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  are 
prayers,  Masses,  works  of  mercy,  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments.     For  the  lay  brothers  I 


i 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  91 

make  no  rule,  and  have  no  commands  for  them, 
except  that  they  act  as  God  may  inspire  them." 

Then,  with  four  friars  and  a  few  of  the  Crusaders, 
he  left  the  city  and  made  his  way,  not  without  con- 
siderable danger,  up  the  Danube  to  Peterwardein. 
Arrived  there,  he  persuaded  Hunyady  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  fortress  and  to  enlist  new  troops. 
Urgent  messages  were  sent  to  different  parts, 
calling  on  those  who  had  taken  the  cross  to  come 
without  further  delay.  The  Cardinal  Legate,  at 
Buda,  sent  assistance  and  provisions.  Vessels  of 
different  kinds,  principally  small  boats,  but  num- 
bering about  two  hundred,  were  soon  at  his  disposal, 
all  laden  with  weapons,  ammunition,  and  food. 
Rich  and  poor  men  answered  the  summons  to 
fight  under  the  Christian  flag.  Within  ten  days  an 
army  was  collected,  numerous  enough  to  be  a  great 
accession  of  strength  to  the  garrison,  provided  they 
could  join  forces  with  them. 

Tagliocozzo  tells  what  had  occurred  during  the 
interval  at  Belgrade.  The  enemy  had  soon  com- 
pleted their  entrenchments  and  mounted  their  ar- 
tillery in  three  principal  batteries.  The  leading 
gunners  were  renegade  Christians — Italians,  Ger- 
mans, Hungarians,  Bosnians,  and  Servians.  The 
historian  notes  that  the  guns  were  so  well  mounted 
that  a  child  could  turn  them.  Though  the  city 
was  strongly  fortified  with  a  double  wall  and  two 
deep  moats  outside  the  citadel,  the  heavy  bom- 
bardment soon  wrought  great  havoc;  before  the 
ten  days  had  expired  the  outer  walls  were  in  ruins, 
and   the   citadel  itself  had  suffered   considerable 


92  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

damage.  The  mortars  caused  the  greatest  con- 
sternation of  all  among  the  people,  throwing  great 
stone  balls,  over  the  fortifications,  into  the  town 
itself.  One  of  these  fell  through  the  roof  of  the 
church  where  Tagliocozzo  was  saying  Mass.  Yet 
there  was  very  little  loss  of  life  from  this  cause.  A 
greater  evil  was  a  pestilence  that  broke  out  among 
the  inhabitants.  There  was  also  a  scarcity  of  pro- 
visions, since  every  approach  to  the  city  was 
closed. 

On  14  July,  the  Crusaders  forming  the  relief 
expedition  under  Capistran  and  Hunyady,  made 
their  way  down  the  Danube  in  their  fleet  of  boats, 
the  one  large  ship  they  had  occupying  the  leading 
position. 

Both  Turks  and  Christians  soon  learned  of  their 
approach,  and  the  latter  took  steps  to  give  aid  in 
the  naval  battle  which  they  saw  was  inevitable. 
They  had  forty  vessels  in  their  docks,  none  of  large 
size ;  and  these  they  quickly  prepared  for  action. 

The  great  Turkish  galleys  advanced  to  intercept 
the  Crusaders,  taking  up  a  position  a  little  above 
the  city.  There  they  were  tied  together  side  by 
side  so  as  to  form  a  complete  barrier  across  the 
river.  Before  meeting  them,  Hunyady  landed 
some  of  his  men  to  engage  any  of  the  enemy  who 
might  come  to  the  aid  of  the  fleet.  Capistran  also 
went  ashore  with  a  certain  Peter,  a  nobleman,  who 
carried  his  standard.  Then  the  Christians,  with 
their  one  warship,  and  many  boats,  advanced  to 
the  attack  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  guns ;  and 
meantime  the  forty  small  craft  from  the  city  closed 


*r\r\- 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  93 

in  behind  the  enemy.  It  was  a  fight  at  close 
quarters.  Fearlessly  the  Crusaders  boarded  the 
great  galleys  from  their  tiny  vessels,  and  engaged 
the  enemy  hand  to  hand  with  swords,  or  fought  at 
close  range  with  pistols.  During  the  five  hours 
the  conflict  lasted,  Capistran  on  the  shore  stood 
praying  and  calling  on  the  Holy  name  of  Jesus. 
Those  in  the  city,  too,  were  praying  all  the  while. 
At  last,  the  line  of  ships  was  broken,  and  the 
mosquito  fleet  of  the  Christians  surrounded  them 
and  attacked  in  more  deadly  fashion  than  before. 
The  victory  was  complete.  Of  the  Turkish  galleys 
some  were  sunk,  others  were  captured,  and  those 
that  escaped  were  so  damaged  as  to  be  unservice- 
able to  either  party. 

Thus  the  relieving  force  entered  the  city,  having 
freed  the  passage  of  the  Danube  for  the  conveyance 
of  provisions  and  of  such  other  troops  as  might 
from  time  to  time  come  in. 

The  whole  defending  army  now  numbered  about 
sixty  thousand  men,1  nearly  all  Hungarians,  but  a 
few  were  Germans,  Poles,  Slavs,  and  Bosnians. 
Among  them,  says  Tagliocozzo,  there  was  no  idle- 
ness, drunkenness,  nor  immorality ;  no  evil  speak- 
ing, gambling,  theft,  nor  quarrelling ;  but  prayers, 
hearing  Mass,  and  the  reception  of  the  sacraments. 
Each  group  had  its  own  priest,  and  all  were  inspired 
by  the  words  and  example  of  their  saintly  leader. 
They  were  wonderfully  peaceful,  patient,  and  devout ; 
but  were,  at  the  same  time,  ready  to  face  any  peril 
at  a  word  from  Capistran. 

'Nicholas  of  Fara  VIII. 


94  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

Day  by  day,  during  the  week"  that  followed  the 
naval  victory,  the  bombardment  of  the  city  was 
maintained.  Many  times,  parties  of  Christians 
made  sorties  from  the  city,  provoked  by  the  near 
approach  of  the  Turks.  Fighting  furiously,  they 
slew  many  of  the  enemy,  but,  in  general,  they  were 
overcome  by  force  of  numbers,  and  with  their  lives 
paid  the  price  of  their  temerity.  The  object  of 
the  Turks,  in  so  frequently  approaching  close  to 
the  walls,  was  to  fill  up  the  outer  moat  with  wood, 
earth,  and  rubbish  of  all  kinds,  so  as  to  prepare  a 
way  for  the  general  assault  by  which  they  confidently 
expected  to  capture  the  fortress. 

Capistran's  own  activity  during  these  days  was 
most  remarkable.  He  scarce  ate  or  slept,  and, 
though  seventy  years  old,  he  had  all  the  endurance 
of  a  robust  youth.  He  was  to  be  seen  everywhere, 
consoling  the  timid,  providing  for  the  needs  of  the 
sick  and  wounded,  exhorting  the  soldiers  to  bravery, 
inspiring  all  with  his  own  unbounded  trust  in  God. 
So  unremitting  were  his  exertions  that  no  one  could 
accompany  him  for  long  without  being  overcome 
by  fatigue.  Even  a  powerful  horse,  that  Hunyady 
gave  him  to  lighten  his  toil,  was  worn  out,  and 
died  within  a  few  days.  Yet  he  appeared  to  grow 
stronger  as  the  days  passed  by.  Each  morning  he 
celebrated  Mass,  and  addressed  to  the  people  words 
of  hope  and  of  encouragement  to  perseverance  in 
prayer  and  piety. 

John  Hunyady  and  Michael,  the  governor  of 
the  fortress,  laboured  strenuously  to  maintain  the 
defence  works  in  repair,  and  to  resist  the  enemy  as 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  95 

long  as  possible ;  but,  on  20  July,  it  was  seen  by 
the  Christians  that  the  decisive  engagement  could 
not  be  long  delayed.  The  outer  walls  had  been 
useless  for  several  days,  and  now  they  were 
levelled  to  the  ground,  their  ruins  helping  to  fill 
up  the  moat  beyond,  and  so  making  the  approach 
less  difficult  for  the  besiegers.  It  was  no  longer 
possible,  even  by  incessant  toil,  to  keep  the  interior 
walls  in  repair  as  often  as  they  were  breached  by 
the  fire  of  the  guns.  The  great  tower  of  the  citadel 
showed  a  wide  fissure  from  top  to  bottom  and 
threatened  to  fall  at  any  moment. 

Even  Hunyady  gave  up  hope  when  he  saw  the 
fortress  practically  a  ruin,  for  he  had  little  confidence 
in  the  unskilled  Crusaders  being  able  to  repel  so 
formidable  an  army  in  a  hand  to  hand  engagement. 
That  same  night  he  said  to  Capistran  :  "  We  are 
conquered,  and  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  Turks.  I 
have  often  beaten  them,  and  that,  not  by  the  greater 
number  or  superiority  of  the  forces  at  my  command, 
but  by  perseverance,  and  by  skill  in  strategy ;  and 
I  understand  all  their  manoeuvres.  But  now  all 
my  efforts  have  come  to  nought.  I  have  no  means 
of  attack  or  defence.  I  have  done  all  I  could,  but 
ray  resources  are  at  an  end.  The  defences  cannot 
be  made  good ;  the  walls  and  towers  are  destroyed ; 
the  way  for  the  Turks  lies  open.  Against  such  a 
host  we  are  but  few ;  and  our  men  are  untrained, 
badly  armed,  poor,  weak,  and  timid.  The  barons 
have  not  come.     What  more  can  we  do?" 

It  was  the  despair  of  a  brave  man  but  an  honest 
soldier :  ready  to  fight  till  death,  but  unwilling  to 


g6  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

encourage  hopes  which  his  experience  assured  him 
were  vain. 

Capistran's  trust  in  God  was  still  unshaken, 
"  Fear  not,"  he  said,  "God  is  able  with  a  few  weak 
men  to  overthrow  the  Turkish  power,  to  defend  the 
city,  and  put  our  enemies  to  shame."  But  Hunyady 
was  unconvinced.  " To-morrow,"  he  said,  "the 
fortress  will  no  longer  be  ours."  The  Saint's  reply 
was  :  "  Do  not  fear.  It  will  be  ours  indeed  !  We 
are  fighting  in  God's  cause.  We  are  defending  the 
name  of  Christ.  I  am  confident  God  will  protect 
His  own." 

Then  Capistran,  seeing  that  the  work  of  defence 
must  depend  more  than  ever  on  himself,  selected 
4000  of  the  best  fighting  men,  and  posted  them  in 
position  to  meet  the  expected  assault.  The  sick 
and  wounded  he  sent  into  the  more  distant  part  of 
the  town.  The  women  for  greater  safety,  were 
located  in  the  citadel,  with  the  exception  of 
some  whose  brave  offer  to  help  the  soldiers  was 
accepted,  and  who,  in  fact,  did  help  nobly  in  the 
fight. 

Towards  evening  on  the  21st,  the  Turks  were 
seen  to  be  in  prayer.  Soon  the  loud  blare  of 
trumpets  and  the  shouts  of  the  entire  host  were 
heard  as  they  made  ready  for  the  assault.  The 
Christians,  too,  lining  the  ruins  of  the  outer  wall, 
prayed  and  called  aloud  upon  the  name  of  Jesus. 
Then  the  infidels  advanced  and,  with  renewed 
shouts,  hurled  themselves  furiously  upon  the  defen- 
ders. Many  carried  fagots  and  bundles  of  straw 
which    they   threw  into   the   trench.      Then   they 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  97 

swarmed  thick  as  ants  up  the  bank  and  used  their 
swords.  Others  from  behind  fired  pistols,  flung 
javelins,  or  hurled  stones  from  slings  ;  while  arrows 
sped  in  such  dense  flight  as  seemed  to  fill  the  air. 
Still  the  Christians  on  the  higher  ground  held  their 
own.  The  stones  from  the  ruined  walls  wrought 
havoc  when  hurled  upon  the  assailants  below. 
Great  numbers  of  the  Turks  were  slain,  and  with 
their  bodies  helped  to  fill  the  chasm. 

More  and  more  numerous  the  besiegers  strove 
to  storm  the  mound  ;  but  the  Christians,  gaining 
confidence,  fought  more  resolutely  than  ever.  Their 
battle-cry  was  the  holy  name  of  Jesus,  taken  up 
from  Capistran  who  stood  and  prayed  like  another 
Moses  all  through  the  fight.  They  were  themselves 
like  an  impenetrable  wall,  gaps  made  by  dead  or 
wounded  being  instantly  filled  up. 

So  the  struggle  went  on  till  about  an  hour  after 
sunset,  when  the  Turks  showed  signs  of  being  de- 
moralized by  the  terrible  losses  they  had  sustained  ; 
their  attack  lost  its  vehemence ;  they  wavered ; 
they  retreated  from  the  fatal  ditch  and  mound. 

At  midnight  they  returned  to  the  attack,  with 
more  ladders  and  appliances  for  scaling  the  de- 
fences, and  still  further  enraged  at  their  humilia- 
tion and  losses.  Not  hate  alone  but  vengeance 
now  inspired  them.  Just  as  the  Christians  gladly 
gave  their  lives  in  the  holy  cause,  they,  too,  in  their 
fury  had  no  fear  of  death. 

The  conflict  lasted  longer  than  before  ;  and  was, 
if  possible,  more  stubbornly  contested.  The  Chris- 
tian women  helped  the  Crusaders,  handing  them 


98  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

arrows  and  stones,  carrying  off  and  tending  the 
wounded.  At  last,  after  heroic  resistance,  the 
Christians  were  forced  back  by  weight  of  over- 
whelming numbers.  The  Turks  were  masters  of 
the  first  part  of  the  fortress. 

Still  there  was  no  disorderly  rout.  The  Crus- 
aders retired,  with  severe  losses,  but  in  solid  ranks 
to  reinforce  the  troops  posted  on  the  second  wall, 
which,  like  the  first,  was  protected  by  a  moat. 

Again  the  horde  of  Turks  came  on.  Again  they 
tried  to  fill  the  trench  with  brushwood,  straw,  and 
such  material  as  was  light  enough  to  carry.  But 
it  was  their  persistence  in  this  endeavour  that  most 
of  all  brought  about  their  undoing.  There  was 
one  bridge  across  this  moat.  There  the  fight  was 
waged  most  furiously;  but  the  moat  itself  was 
densely  packed  with  men  struggling  to  scale  the 
mound  and  half-ruined  walls. 

It  was  just  before  the  dawn  when  the  Christians 
thought  of  a  new  plan.  Those  in  the  rear  pre- 
pared some  hundreds  of  bundles  of  twigs  and 
thorns  with  sulphur.  They  lighted  these  and 
passed  them  to  the  men  in  front  who  cast  them 
all  at  once  on  to  the  enemy.  They  blazed  rapidly 
and,  setting  fire  to  the  inflammable  material  thrown 
down  already  by  the  Turks,  made  a  fierce  fire 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  trench. 

It  was  a  fearful  spectacle  as  seen  and  described 
by  Tagliocozzo.  Suffocated  by  the  sulphurous 
fumes,  and  consumed  by  the  raging  fire,  nearly  all 
the  Turks  who  were  below  the  walls  perished ;  and 
those  who  had  not  gone  down  fled  terror-stricken, 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  99 

crying*:  "  Let  us  flee.  The  God  of  the  Christians 
is  fighting  for  them."  The  same  writer,  after 
witnessing  the  awful  sight,  could  only  compare  it 
with  fire  from  heaven,  so  great  was  the  destruction 
it  wrought. 

It  was  the  morning  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene's  day. 
Among  the  Christians  there  was  great  joy  and 
thanksgiving  ;  but  from  the  enemy's  camp  no  sound 
was  heard.  There  silence,  sorrow,  and  fear  held 
sway.  In  the  full  daylight  the  charred  bodies  of 
the  Turks  were  seen,  piled  up  within  the  trench 
from  end  to  end.  Of  the  Christians,  not  more 
than  sixty  were  killed  outright  in  the  final  assault, 
though  many  more  were  wounded.  These  losses 
seemed  remarkably  light  to  those  who  saw  the 
ground  covered  with  arrows  and  spears — relics  of 
the  fight,  which  the  women  and  children  gathered 
into  sheaves  like  corn  in  harvest  time. 

This  was  the  second  battle  won  by  the  Christians. 
The  third  and  crowning  victory  was  gained  on  that 
same  day,  22  July. 

Rejoiced  at  such  unexpected  success,  but  fearing 
that  the  Crusaders  might  rashly  expose  themselves 
to  danger  and  so  lose  all  the  advantage  they  had 
gained,  Hunyady  had  given  orders  that  no  one 
should  leave  the  camp.  His  plan,  doubtles  the 
most  prudent  one,  judged  by  the  methods  of  or- 
dinary warfare,  was  to  await  the  next  attack,  for  the 
enemy  still  far  out-numbered  the  Christian  forces. 
But  the  Crusaders  were  too  much  elated  at  their 
victory  to  brook  any  such  restraint.  They  despised 
the  power  ot  the  Turks.     One  party  after  another 


ioo  ST.  JOHN  CAP  1ST  RAN. 

advanced  towards  the  enemy's  lines  shouting 
battle-cry  of  "Jesus".  Their  arrows  fell  within 
the  camp  but  provoked  no  reply.  Capistran  saw 
that  they  were  not  to  be  held  back,  so  went  forth 
to  them  himself,  that  they  might  not  be  without  a 
leader.  Others  joined  him,  making  in  all  a  band 
of  about  two  thousand,  on  the  open  ground  be- 
tween their  own  fortress  and  the  enemy.  The 
Turks  seemed  terrified,  for  they  made  no  resistance, 
but  fled  confusedly  while  the  Christians,  rushing 
on,  occupied  the  nearer  batteries  and  spiked  the 
guns.  Soon  there  were  four  thousand  Christians 
or  more,  and  their  numbers  were  momentarily 
increasing,  when  at  last  the  Turks  began  to  rally 
and  to  oppose  the  impetuous  onslaught  of  their 
foes. 

A  few  of  the  Crusaders  seemed  to  realize  that 
they  had  acted  rashly  and  cried  out  to  check  the 
others,  saying  that  the  Turks  were  like  lions  waiting 
to  devour  them  ;  but  the  holy  leader  knew  that  the 
supreme  moment  had  come :  "  Let  him  flee  who 
is  afraid,"  he  cried.  "  For  forty  years  I  have  waited 
for  this  hour."  Then,  standing  on  an  eminence, 
exposing  himself  to  imminent  danger  of  death 
from  the  arrows  and  spears  that  sped  through  the 
air,  he  called  aloud  to  the  Christians  that  the  time 
of  glorious  victory  had  come  and  that  God  had 
delivered  the  enemy  into  their  hands.  He  ordered 
Peter,  his  standard-bearer,  to  raise  the  cross  and 
turn  it  towards  the  foe. 

The  fight  was  hotly  contested  for  a  while ;  but 
before  long  the  Turkish   lines  were  broken,   and 


THE  VICTORY  CF  BELGRADE.  101 

soon  the  engagement  •  thin  i  rout. 

The  cries  of  "Jesus  "  rifling  the  air  seemed  to  have 
more  than  human  terrors  for  the  infidels.  All  their 
courage  died  away. 

Some  of  the  cavalry  made  a  last  effort  to  turn  the 
tide  of  victory.  They  rode  with  lances  at  rest  and 
with  fierce  shouts  towards  the  place  where  Ca- 
pistran  stood ;  but,  again,  the  name  of  Jesus  seemed 
to  fill  them  with  a  supernatural  fear,  for  they,  too, 
fell  into  confusion,  turned  and  fled. 

By  this  time  the  whole  Christian  army  was 
charging  the  enemy,  wounding  and  slaying  as  they 
pressed  on,  irresistible  as  though  they  were  beings 
mightier  than  men.  The  Turks  were  driven  from 
their  camp,  and  soon  were  in  full  retreat  across  the 
Save.  Many  lives  were  lost  at  this  dangerous  point, 
for  their  confusion  was  increased  by  the  Crusaders 
turning  upon  them  such  of  their  own  guns  as  were 
still  serviceable.  Even  on  the  other  side  Christians 
still  pursued  them,  no  longer  meeting  with  resist- 
ance. 

Michael  rode  joyfully  up  to  Capistran,  who  asked 
him  whether  the  Turks  were  now  utterly  defeated. 
He  replied  that  Hungary  had  never  won  so  great  a 
victory.  On  hearing  this  the  Saint  gave  orders  to 
have  the  troops  recalled  from  pursuit ;  for,  although 
for  years  he  had  been  desirous  of  defeating  and 
routing  the  enemies  of  Christianity,  he  had  no  love 
for  butchery. 

On  the  morrow  Capistran  and  the  other  com- 
manders viewed  the  scene  of  the  conflict.     There 
they  saw  the  guns  which  had  dealt  such  destruction 
8 


r,    fha 


102  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

during,  the  QJB&  three  week-?;,  and  among  them  the 
twenty-two  great  guns  before  mentioned  which 
were  believed  to  be  the  largest  ever  made  up  to 
that  time.1  Chariots  of  brass,  iron,  and  wood  were 
se  m,  and  a  church  was  found  to  be  filled  with  gun- 
powder, cords,  arrows,  and  wooden  and  steel  bows. 
There  were  standards,  shields,  pistols,  vessels  of 
different  kinds,  hand-mills  for  corn,  clothing  and 
ornaments  in  the  greatest  abundance,  also  sheep 
and  oxen,  camels  and  buffaloes — all  testifying  to 
the  frantic  haste  with  which  the  enemy  had  de- 
parted. The  dead  were  lying  everywhere,  but  the 
wounded  had  been  carried  off  in  carts. 

Capistran  sent  the  good  news  to  the  Pope  on  the 
very  day  of  victory :  "  Glory  be  to  God  in  the 
highest,  from  whose  mercy  it  is  that  we  are  not 
consumed. 

"  We  were  so  harassed  and  in  such  dire  straits, 
that  all  thought  we  could  no  longer  withstand  the 
mighty  power  of  the  Turks.  Even  Hunyady,  the 
governor,  who  is  in  truth  the  terror  of  the  Moslem, 
and  a  most  valiant  Christian  hero,  thought  it  better 
to  abandon  the  fortress  of  Belgrade.  For  the  Mo- 
hammedans attacked  so  strongly  and  incessantly, 
broke  down  our  walls  with  their  artillery,  and 
fought  so  fiercely  against  us  that  our  strength  was 
failing  and  our  military  leaders  were  in  fear.  But 
in  the  midst  of  our  afflictions  the  Lord  has  raised 
us  up. 

"  They  had  been  repulsed,  but  were  returning  to 

1  They  are  said  to  have  been  cast  from  the  metal  of  the 
bells  of  Constantinople. 


THE  VICTORY  OF  BELGRADE.  103 

lie  in  ambush  for  our  men  who  went  forth ;  for  al- 
though Hunyady  had  given  orders  that  no  one 
should  leave  the  fortress,  the  Crusaders  gave  no 
heed  to  his  command,  but  rushed  upon  the  enemy 
and  put  themselves  in  great  peril.  Then  I,  your 
poor  servant,  seeing  I  could  not  recall  them,  went 
forward  also,  and  hurrying  from  place  to  place,  re- 
strained some,  encouraged  others,  and,  again,  so 
posted  them  that  they  might  not  be  surrounded  by 
the  enemy. 

"  At  length  God,  who  can  save  as  easily  by  few 
as  by  many,  mercifully  gave  us  victory  and  put  to 
flight  that  ferocious  Turkish  army.  We  captured 
all  the  guns  and  implements  by  means  of  which 
they  hoped  to  subjugate  all  Christendom. 

*  Rejoice,  therefore,  in  the  Lord,  Holy  Father ; 
and  bid  men  give  Him  praise,  glory,  and  honour, 
because  He  alone  has  wrought  great  wonders.  For 
neither  I,  your  feeble  and  useless  servant,  nor  the 
poor  uncouth  Crusaders,  your  devoted  clients,  could 
have  done  this  by  any  strength  of  ours.  The  Lord 
God  of  armies  has  done  it  all.  To  Him  be  glory 
for  ever. 

"  I  write  this  briefly  and  in  haste,  having  just  re- 
turned, fatigued  from  the  battle.  I  shall  shortly 
report  more  clearly  and  in  detail  what  has  occurred. 

"From  Belgrade,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, the  day  of  the  glorious  victory."  l 

On  1 7  August,  he  wrote  again  giving  further  in- 
formation and  recommending  that  steps  should  be 

1  Ap.  Wadd.  XII.  57* 
8* 


io4  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

taken  to  organize  a  general  campaign  against  the 
Turks.  He  thought  that  if  this  were  done  before 
they  had  recovered  from  their  losses  at  Belgrade,  it 
might  be  possible  to  expel  them  altogether  from 
Turkey  and  Greece. 

The  Pope  was  of  this  mind  also,  as  appears  from 
his  replies,  wherein,  while  warmly  thanking  Capis- 
tran,  he  commanded  him  to  persevere  in  the  task 
of  driving  the  Turks  out  of  Europe.  He  also  wrote 
in  the  same  sense  to  Charles  VII  of  France.  No 
triumph  was  too  great  to  expect  after  the  wonderful 
victory  of  Belgrade. 

The  joyful  news  spread  rapidly  throughout 
Europe,  dissipating  the  fears  and  anxieties  of  years 
past.  As  a  lasting  memorial  of  the  great  event, 
the  Pope  ordained  that  the  feast  of  the  Transfigura- 
tion of  our  Lord  should  be  celebrated  through- 
out the  Christian  world  every  year  on  6  August, 
the  day  on  which  the  news  of  victory  reached 
Rome.1 

Capistran  and  Hunyady  were  hailed  as  the 
saviours  of  Europe ;  and,  in  truth,  they  merited 
that  title,  for  they  had  led  a  forlorn  hope,  had 
fought  and  won  a  crowning  victory,  while  all  the 
rest  had  stood  aside.  They  had  offered  a  noble 
example  of  deeds  accomplished  in  face  of  obstacles 
overwhelming  to  human  strength,  but  made  possible 
by  heroic  self-sacrifice  and  sublime  trust  in  God. 
Each  of  them  attributed  the  victory  solely  to  the 

1  This  festival  had  already  been  observed  in  various 
places,  and  on  different  dates — generally  on  the  lecond 
Sunday  of  Lent. 


... 


CIBORIUM   OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER. 

Made  in  1456  for  St.  John  Cajdstran,  and  used  by  him  at  the 

siege  of  Belgrade.     It  is  now  preserved  at  Budapest. 


DEATH.  105 

divine  power  of  which  they  were  merely  the  instru- 
ments.1 

Their  work  was  done.  Companions  in  the  fight 
for  God's  glory  on  earth,  both  were  shortly  called 
by  God  to  a  reward  greater  than  this  world  could 
give.  It  was  left  to  others  to  carry  on  the  war 
which  would  last  many  more  years  before  Europe 
was  freed  from  fear  of  Ottoman  dominion.  But 
the  victory  of  Belgrade  had  stemmed  the  flowing 
tide  of  conquest  at  the  time  when  most  of  all  it 
seemed  irresistible.  The  spirit  of  Europe  was 
roused  from  lethargy.  Other  great  victories  followed 
in  later  years,  but  they  perhaps  had  not  been 
possible  but  for  the  glorious  achievement  of  Capis- 
tran  and  Hunyady. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEATH. 

Only  three  months  of  life  on  earth  remained  to 
Capistran  after  the  crowning  work  of  his  life  was 
done  ;  and  during  this  time  he  tended  his  noble 
friend  Hunyady,  and  prepared  him  for  his  passage 
into  eternity.  The  story  of  this  hero's  death  is 
told  by  Bonfini  in  his  History  of  Hungary,  and 
may  be  briefly  told  here  with  corrections  and  de- 
tails by  other  historians.2 

1  Letter  of  Hunyady    to    King  Ladislaus,   ap.   Boll.  X 
Oct.  p.  382. 

»See  Boll.  X  Oct.  p.  385,  ttq. 


106  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle,  a  pestilence  broke 
out  in  the  town,  caused  by  the  vast  number  of  de- 
composing bodies  that  surrounded  it.  Hunyady, 
worn  out  by  excessive  labours,  was  one  of  the  first 
victims.  By  order  of  the  physicians  he  was  re- 
moved to  Semlin,  a  short  distance  away,  and  near 
the  scene  of  the  naval  victory.  They  hoped  that 
the  purer  air  there  would  aid  his  recovery.  But 
it  was  soon  evident  that  he  must  die.  His  two 
sons,  Ladislaus  and  Mathias — the  latter  afterwards 
King  of  Hungary — were  with  him.  Capistran 
too  was  there,  and  remained  with  him  till  he 
died. 

Admonished  by  the  Saint  to  arrange  his  tem- 
poral affairs  and  dispose  his  soul  for  death,  he 
smiled  and  said  that  it  was  good  advice,  but  he 
had  done  all  this  long  ago,  for  he  thought  it  folly 
to  put  off  such  important  matters  to  the  very  end 
of  life.  Then  he  made  a  noble  profession  of  his 
faith  and  trust  in  God,  for  whose  glory  he  had 
always  fought,  and  not  for  earthly  rewards. 

At  his  own  request  he  was  carried  into  the 
church  of  our  Lady  close  by,  where  he  received 
the  Holy  Viaticum  and  the  other  rites  of  the 
Church  at  the  hands  of  Capistran,  and  so  expired 
on  n  August,  1456.  The  Saint's  parting  words  to 
him  were  that  he  envied  him  his  death,  coming,  as 
it  did,  so  soon  after  his  victory  over  the  Turks,  and 
crowning  him  with  eternal  glory  before  inconstant 
men  could  tarnish  his  renown  and  spoil  his  hap- 
piness here.  "  Would  it  were  given  me  to  follow 
you,"   he  said,   "so  that   we  who  have   together 


DEATH.  107 

served  the  King  of  Heaven,  might  in  that  heaven 
together  be  rewarded." 

In  this  spirit  he  mourned  his  departed  friend. 
He  was  no  longer  seen  to  smile.  He  would  take 
no  part  in  joyful  celebrations  arranged  in  honour 
of  the  victory.  During  weary  days  and  sleepless 
nights,  his  thoughts  were  fixed  upon  the  unchang- 
ing joys  of  heaven. 

The  death  he  so  greatly  desired  was  not  long 
delayed.  Forty  of  his  seventy  years  had  been 
passed  in  severe  and  exacting  toil ;  arduous  and 
unremitted  penance  had  taken  its  toll  of  his 
strength ;  his  extraordinary  exertions  in  promoting 
the  Crusade  had,  without  doubt,  shortened  his 
life ;  while  the  fatigues  of  the  past  few  weeks  had 
been  too  great  for  human  nature  to  sustain.  Be- 
fore the  death  of  Hunyady  he  was  already  quite 
infirm,  and  could  only  walk  with  the  help  of  a  stick. 
He  lost  all  appetite  for  food,  and  became  so  emaci- 
ated that  his  skin  seemed  to  adhere  to  his  bones. 

Semlin,  the  place  where  he  dwelt,  was  not  so 
far  from  Belgrade  as  altogether  to  be  free  from  the 
pestilential  atmosphere  that  still  emanated  from 
the  field  of  battle.  It  had  been  all  but  destroyed 
by  the  Turks.  The  house  he  occupied  was  in  a 
ruinous  condition,  infested  with  lizards  and  mice, 
and  without  a  bed  or  other  furniture.  The  Car- 
dinal Legate  wished  him  to  be  removed  to  some 
more  salubrious  place.  The  Saint  consented  to 
this,  not  so  much  on  his  own  account,  for  he  had 
no  desire  to  live,  as  for  the  good  of  his  companions, 
several  of  whom  were  in  bad  health. 


io8  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

He  therefore  went  to  Villak,1  a  town  in  Hungary, 
but  lower  down  the  Danube  and  close  to  the 
Turkish  frontier.  Among  the  friars  who  went  with 
him  was  John  Tagliocozzo,  the  same  who  had  been 
his  companion  during  the  siege,  and  from  whom 
we  have  the  details  of  these  last  days.  It  was  at  the 
Saint's  special  request  that  he  went,  for  Capistran 
said  :  "  Do  not  desert  me,  my  son.  I  am  lonely, 
and  have  no  one  who  is  an  Italian  but  you  to  assist 
me  if  I  am  to  die,  to  close  my  eyes,  and  to  take 
care  of  the  books  that  have  been  allowed  to  me, 
so  that  they  may  be  taken  back  to  the  province. 
But  bear  patiently  with  me  and  help  me.  If  I  get 
well,  we  shall  go  together  to  Buda  to  collect  men." 
He  said  this,  for,  although  he  knew  he  was  to  die 
in  Hungary,  the  time  of  his  departure  had  not  yet 
been  made  known  to  him. 

He  still  had  strength  sufficient  to  make  the 
journey  on  foot.  On  the  way  he  was  met  by 
Nicholas,  the  governor  of  Villak,  a  renowned 
general  who  had  often  fought  against  the  Turks. 
Capistran  admired  this  man  very  greatly,  and,  in 
one  of  his  letters  to  the  Pope,  compared  him  with 
Hunyady.  He  in  turn  loved  and  venerated  the 
Saint  and  rejoiced  on  finding  that  he  intended  to 
visit  his  town.  He  ordered  Lawrence,  his  second 
in  command,  to  attend  to  all  that  was  needful  for 
the  Saint's  comfort,  for  he  was  engaged  with  his 
soldiers  in  the  protection  of  the  country.  The 
citizens,    like    the   governor,    were   glad,  and    re- 

2Not  the  Villak  in  Carinthia,  where  he  had  cured  the 
victims  of  plague  (p.  50). 


DEATH.  109 

ceived   their   holy  guest   with   great  respect   and 
honour. 

He  took  up  his  abode  with  the  Friars  of  the  Ob- 
servance. On  some  days  he  was  able  to  celebrate 
Mass,  and  at  other  times  he  would  go  to  the  church 
to  receive  holy  Communion,  even  if  he  had  to  be 
supported  on  the  arm  of  another.  During  his  ill- 
ness he  always  recited  his  Office  until,  towards  the 
end,  this  became  impossible.  Then  he  would  listen 
attentively  while  it  was  read  by  one  of  his  com- 
panions. If  any  complaint  escaped  him,  it  was 
that  his  sojourn  in  this  world  was  so  prolonged, 
and  that  he  had  not  been  allowed  to  give  his  blood 
for  Christ.  On  the  feast  of  our  Lady's  Nativity  it 
was  made  known  to  him  that  he  was  to  die  of  this 
illness. 

King  Ladislaus  went  twice  to  visit  him.  On  the 
first  occasion  he  was  able  to  go  out  and  greet  the 
king ;  but  the  next  time  he  could  not  rise  from  his 
bed  of  straw,  and  so  received  the  royal  visitor  in 
his  cell,  exhorting  him  to  defend  the  faith  and 
to  lead  a  good  life.  When  the  king  and  the  Car- 
dinal Legate  ordered  the  best  physicians  in  the 
country  to  attend  him,  he  said :  "  Do  what  you 
will.  Say  what  you  please.  I  shall  obey  you  so 
far  as  I  am  able ;  but  this  is  my  last  illness.  I 
shall  die  of  it  without  doubt."  Barons,  nobles, 
and  prelates  visited  him  from  all  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. Delicate  and  exquisite  foods  were  sent  to 
him,  but  these  he  either  refused  or  distributed  to 
others. 

The  fever  grew  more  violent,  pains  racked  all  his 


no  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

body,  and  frequent  haemorrhage  increased  his  weak- 
ness, yet  his  peace  of  mind  and  fervour  of  devotion 
remained  unchanged.  He  still  showed  himself  as 
zealous  as  ever  for  the  glory  of  God,  the  salvation 
of  souls  and  the  spread  of  the  Christian  religion. 
The  sick  were  brought  to  him  and  many  were 
cured.  Tagliocozzo  tells  of  one  instance  in  par- 
ticular. A  certain  friar  named  Ambrose,  one  of  his 
own  companions,  was  lying  unconscious  and  at  the 
point  of  death  at  a  place  five  miles  away.  On  Ca- 
pistran  being  informed  of  this  at  night,  he  rose  in 
his  bed,  and,  kneeling,  prayed  for  him.  At  the 
same  hour  the  sick  man  began  to  speak  and  was 
found  to  be  cured.  Tagliocozzo  testifies  to  this 
from  his  own  knowledge,  for  in  the  morning  he 
went  to  the  place  with  another  friar,  and  found  the 
man  whom  they  thought  to  see  dead,  eating  and 
quite  well. 

Concerning  his  own  illness,  some  said  that  he 
must  die  from  loss  of  blood.  Others  declared  that 
he  would  recover,  for  his  mind  was  as  clear  as  ever 
and  his  faculties  quite  unimpaired.  Hearing  this, 
he  distributed  among  all  who  were  present,  in- 
cluding some  who  were  in  poor  health,  the 
dishes  and  confections  that  had  been  sent  to 
him,  saying:  "This  shall  be  a  sign  to  you,  that 
while  you  shall  all  be  well,  I  alone  am  shortly 
to  die". 

On  the  Feast  of  St.  Luke,  18  October,  he  ordered 
all  the  friars  to  be  brought  to  him ;  and,  after  ex- 
horting them  to  honour  and  fear  God  and  to  ob- 
serve the  rule,  he  knelt  as  well  as  he  could  upon 


>olr_ 


DEATH.  nt 

his  bed,  declared  with  tears  that  he  was  a  sinner, 
and  asked  for  the  prayers  of  the  brethren  and  pen- 
ance from  the  guardian.  When  the  others  had 
gone  out,  he  spoke  to  the  guardian  and  vicar  in 
private,  telling  them  he  wished  to  receive  the  last 
sacraments  next  day,  lying  on  the  bare  ground,  and 
in  the  presence  of  all  the  brethren.  After  that  he 
made  a  general  confession  of  his  whole  life  to 
Tagliocozzo. 

Next  day  an  altar  was  prepared  in  his  cell.  He 
was  laid  on  the  ground  as  he  had  desired.  The 
guardian  came,  followed  by  all  the  community,  and 
carrying  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Again  he  ac- 
knowledged himself  to  be  a  sinful  man,  and  asked 
pardon  and  prayers  from  all.  After  devoutly  re- 
ceiving the  sacraments,  he  asked  that  the  prayer 
for  the  dying  might  be  recited  as  far  as  the  words  : 
"Go  forth,  O  Christian  soul,  from  this  world,  etc.," 
adding  that  he  would  call  them  when  the  time 
came  to  say  the  rest. 

Afterwards,  lying  on  his  bed,  he  exclaimed 
joyfully  :  "  Now  thou  dost  dismiss  thy  servant,  O 
Lord,  in  peace,  etc.,"  repeating  the  words  many 
times  and  in  a  voice  so  clear  as  to  make  it  seem 
he  could  not  be  a  dying  man.  In  fact,  his  com- 
panions would  not  have  believed  it  but  for  his  own 
frequent  assertion,  his  inability  to  take  food,  and 
the  great  loss  of  blood.  He  gave  away  his  Bible, 
sandals,  and  other  small  articles.  The  papers  con- 
cerning the  Bohemian  heresy  he  ordered  to  be 
taken  to  Vienna,  and  the  books  he  had  from  the 
Order,    together    with    faculties,    bulls,    apostolic 


ii2  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

briefs,  and  his  own  works  to  be  sent  to  the  friary 
Capistrano. 

On  the  day  before  he  died,  when  his  sight  was 
already  failing,  he  solemnly  invoked  a  blessing  on 
all  Christendom,  and  especially  on  Hungary,  Austria, 
Bohemia,  and  Poland.  He  blessed  all  his  Fran- 
ciscan brethren  throughout  the  world,  present  and 
future,  and  all  benefactors  of  the  Order ;  likewise 
the  Sisters  of  St.  Clare  and  the  members  of  the 
Third  Order — all  this  in  great  detail,  and  mention- 
ing many  persons  by  name. 

On  the  last  day  of  his  life  he  said  to  Taglio- 
cozzo :  "  Tell  the  Father  Guardian  to  have  the 
refectory  bell  rung,  so  that  the  brethren  may  come 
and  finish  the  prayers  for  the  dying  ".  They  came, 
though  they  thought  he  had  yet  several  days  to 
live.  When  all  were  assembled,  he  commended 
himself  again  to  their  prayers,  and  then  said  : 
"  Father  Guardian  and  brothers,  Brother  John,1  my 
companion,  would  like  to  have  the  habit  I  wear,  to 
take  it  back  to  Italy.  I  have  refused  him  ;  and  I 
ask  you  to  have  me  buried  in  it  when  I  am  dead. 
For  this  habit  was  sent  to  me  from  Italy.  On  it  is 
the  cross  which  His  Holiness  Pope  Callixtus  sent 
me,  which  the  Cardinal  Legate  placed  thereon  with 
his  own  hands,  with  which  I  preached  the  Crusade, 
and  with  which  and  the  standard  of  the  holy  cross, 
the  power  of  the  Turks  was  crushed  by  the 
mighty  hand  of  God.  Go  on  now  with  the 
commendation  of  my  soul."     The  brethren  replied  : 

1  i.e.  Tagliocozzo, 


,. 


I 


DEATH.  113 

"  We  know  you  are  not  dying,  Father,  but  we 
shall  do  as  you  wish."  So  they  stood  round  the 
bed  with  candles  lighted,  and  the  guardian  began  : 
"Go  forth,  O  Christian  soul,  etc.".  But  he  did 
not  recite  the  exact  words,  whereupon  the  dying 
Saint  said :  "  Take  my  breviary.  There  you 
will  find  the  office  quite  correctly."  The  guardian 
read  the  prayers  from  the  breviary,  and  Capis- 
tran  made  the  responses  with  the  rest. 

The  only  secular  person  in  the  room  was  Law- 
rence, the  vice-governor ;  and  he  was  there  by  order 
of  Nicholas  to  take  possession  of  the  body  after 
death,  so  that  it  should  not  be  sent  away  from  the 
town.  He  had  also  brought  several  other  men 
into  the  friary,  to  make  sure  of  carrying  out  the 
governor's  commands 

For  some  hours  the  Saint  lay  quiet  but  conscious, 
often  raising  his  eyes  to  the  crucifix  or  towards 
heaven,  and  sometimes  crossing  his  arms.  After 
a  time  he  tried  to  speak,  but  in  a  voice  too  feeble 
and  broken  for  the  listeners  to  follow  him.  He 
made  signs  with  his  hands,  and  at  last  was  under- 
stood to  mean  that  the  end  was  near.  The  candles 
were  lighted  again,  and  the  prayers  for  the  dying  re- 
peated. Then,  in  the  presence  of  the  brethren  and 
of  the  vice-governor,  he  joined  his  hands,  and  with 
eyes  opened  and  gazing  heavenwards,  he  expired. 
It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Saturday, 
23  October,  1456. 

Lawrence  immediately  called  his  men  into  the 
room  to  take  charge  of  the  body.  He  was  unwill- 
ing at  first  to  allow  the  brethren  to  wash  it,  so  great 


ii4  ST.  JOHN  CAPISTRAN. 

was  his  haste.  Then  it  was  carried  by  a  private 
passage  into  the  Church,  and  sixty-four  men  posted 
round  it  as  a  guard.  The  doors  were  locked ;  but 
the  citizens  clamoured  to  get  in,  and  threatened 
to  force  an  entrance,  for  the  news  of  the  Saint's 
death  had  quickly  spread.  The  funeral  rites 
lasted  seven  days ;  but  the  body  was  not  carried 
through  the  streets  as  had  been  intended,  for  it  was 
feared  that  the  people  would  tear  it  to  pieces  in 
their  eagerness  to  obtain  relics,  or  that  some  might 
be  killed  among  the  excited  crowd. 

Nicholas,  the  governor,  arrived  on  the  day  of  the 
funeral.  He  was  glad  to  have  possession  of  the 
body,  but  was  displeased  at  the  humble  grave  in 
which  it  was  laid.  Soon  afterwards  he  had  it  re- 
moved, encased  in  a  strong  casket  of  iron  with 
seven  locks,  and  placed  in  a  beautiful  shrine  in  the 
Franciscan  church  of  St.  Mary.  On  the  tomb  he 
had  the  following  lines  inscribed  : — 

Hie  tumulus  servat  praeclara  laude  Joannem, 
Gente  Capistrana.     Fidei  defensor  et  auctor, 
Ecclesiae  tutor,  Christi  tuba,  turn  Ordinis  ardens 
Fautor,  in  Orbe  decus,  turn  veri  cultor  et  aequi, 
Et  vitae  speculum,  doctrinae  maximus  index: 
Laudibus  innumeris  jam  possidet  astra  beatus. 
Vixit  annos  xxxci.  m.iii.  d.xxii. 

Which  may  be  rendered :  "  This  tomb  holds  John, 
by  birth  of  Capistrano,  a  man  worthy  of  all  praise. 
Defender  and  promoter  of  the  faith,  guardian  of  the 
Church,  herald  of  Christ,  zealous  protector  of  his 
Order,  an  ornament  to  all  the  world,  lover  of  truth 
and  justice,  mirror  of  life,  surest  guide  in  doctrine  : 


DEATH.  115 

praised  by  countless  tongues,  he  reigns  blessed  in 
Heaven.  He  lived  seventy-one  years,  three  months, 
twenty -two  days."  x 

In  life  revered  by  men,  and  glorified  by  God 
who  wrought  such  wondrous  works  in  him,  honours 
greater  still  were  reserved  for  the  Saint  after  death. 
Countless  miracles  were  witnessed,  and  many  of 
them  were  investigated  by  St.  James  della  Marcha, 
his  successor  in  Hungary,  and  by  the  episcopal 
and  civil  courts  of  the  kingdom.  Several  princes 
and  civic  bodies  formally  petitioned  for  his  canon- 
ization, and  among  them  were  Mathias,  the  young 
king  of  Hungary,  in  1460,  and  the  Emperor 
Frederick  III  in   1462. 

The  process  was  a  protracted  one,  and  it  was 
not  until  1724  that  the  Church  conferred  on  him 
the  highest  honour  she  can  bestow  by  enrolling 
him  among  her  canonized  Saints.  Yet  this  very 
delay  gives  indication  of  the  searching  character  of 
the  inquiries  made  by  that  severest  of  all  tribunals, 
the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites  ;  and  the  ultimate 
and  weighty  verdict  will  be  endorsed,  we  feel  as- 
sured, by  those  who  have  read  the  details  here 
recorded  of  the  heroic  and  saintly  life  of  God's 
glorious  confessor  St.  John  Capistran. 

1  The  age  is  erroneously  stated.     See  Preface. 


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